Black Hearted Evil
by CaptainTinaRaven
Summary: The story you haven't heard about Shadow's lost memory. Sonic meets Shadow causing trouble around town, but will that be their last encounter. SonicxShadow Human Form Edit
1. Chapter 1

"W-why? Nothing makes sense. Why does… why does this life cause me such.. PAIN! These memories… constantly haunting me. That face. That pure face… covered with… with… BLOOD!! Aw, God! This can't go on. Death! It's all around me. No matter where I look… that face! That FACE… EVERYWHERE!!! These… images. In my mind! Those eyes! Those blue eyes!! They pierce me with such mental pain!"

A male, about nineteen years old it seemed, walking down the sidewalk of a familiar city of Station Square. Around him, a long black trench coat. The collar up, hiding most of his pale face. Small thin black locks rested on his forehead as the rest stood up in spikes, the ends dyed a reddish color. Large black boots stomped at the ground as he walked. His pale eyelids closed, as if he knew his direction by heart.

"That blooded face… It won't go away, no matter how much I try. These… thoughts. My memories. None will go away until I fulfill what I need to do… If I knew what that was. My memory does not rest that far. I can't tell what she wanted. Revenge…?"

Dark brows lowered on his lids, as if imagining something horrible. Small bangs brushed the wind as it went by, coolly. It was a quick relief from the sun beating so brutally from above. His pace did not slow nor speed up, but casually kept his footing. Sounds of regular beats from the clanking silver chains were heard from the baggy black pants they were attached to. Connected randomly in various places.

"Maria. That name stains my memory so deeply. Who is she…? A look of death, an Angel of my dreams. Her face soothes and frightens me. Her mouth moves in my mind, but no voice. She told me something… what is it? The voice of a dead child lies in my destiny. I cannot move on without her wishes. Maria."

Two fingers from beneath a black gloved hand rose up to his aggravated brow, rubbing them slightly. His pace did, indeed slow, until a complete stop. The hand fell to his side, beside his long coat. Lids opened gradually, until two ruby orbs fell onto his face.

Rather looking at his surroundings, his vision focus on the sky on top of the city. The deep blue sea of pure atmosphere, and the burning bright star that gives light. Giving life.

People walked about. Talking and gossiping about long 'hard' days. Laughing, telling jokes. Selfishly talking amongst themselves, simply to pass by the precious time they had. None noticed the male, and the male noticed any of them.

Gloved hands shoved into the pocket of the long trench coat as he squinted his lids together, as if trying to get a better look. Peaceful. Way too peaceful for its own good. The day seemed so perfect. So perfect to live. So perfect for life.

A sudden ache came from the male's temple. He winced from it, one eye sealing shut as the other open wide. Lips revealed pearly white teeth that clutched together fiercely. Pounding rapidly inside his head as flashes of memories came to him. The pain did not cease, it grew. Beating harder at his skull.

The blood, the faces, and the screams became more clearer. He did not want to hear this. He did not want to see this. It was happening again.

His knees collided with the rough ground below him. The headache was becoming unbearable. The throbbing in his temple did not give in. His hands reached his ears, trying to stop the mental screams that were coming from his mind.

People noticed him. Some people did not. And some people saw, but walked away at mere sight. Half the people circled him, and the other half fled. Questionable looks fell upon the worried and words of the situation were passed from one human to the next. People were always so curious to find out anything. Greedy for more knowledge so they can simply pass it to others. The words of trust, lies, and guilt. Words of meaning and meaningless. Laying before a poor soul in need. No one to actually help, just watch and wait. None would do anything. People were cowards. Ashamed to live. Not risky at all. People made the world go around, as well and contaminate the minds. People, none were good. Good for nothing. And so clueless of their own existence. Vile creatures. The same creatures that killed the blonde angel. Ending a fragile life.

The memories kept coming. He knew how the girl had died. Shot. By people. The same ones that crowded him. A snarl came from his teeth, as his exposed devilish eye glared up and around at them. His head swung back, showing his pale skin tone, as well as a visible scar stained on his right eyelid. His teeth unlocked, letting out his pain with a deep, hurting wail at the blue heavens far from his reach.

His body weight shifted, feeling so light. He had suddenly been standing tall with feet hovering from the ground, as the longs black coat swayed around him. Eyes narrowed with burning hate as the scarlet gems began to glow. Power was building up inside, replacing his rage with it. Lips curved up evilly, giving a smirk. Fingers stretched out, nerves not giving in, as if he were holding something.

The people gasped, more running. Some could not get the courage to do so. So in shock, their bodies were stiff, no movement what-so-ever. Their bodies, shaking, trying to look away. Trying to run from their doomed fates.

"You… you killed her." The words did not come easy. A mixture of hurt and anger covered them. But, unexpectedly, ended with a loud evil cackle. His eyes brightened as a strong lights formed into his palms. Red, pure red.

The people, on their knees. Begging for their pathetic lives. Wishing on every star. Hoping to see their families again. Regretting all the things they had done bad. Regretting the things that had not yet accomplished. Wanting life. Wanting more time. They begged. They begged as if their lives depended on it (and they did).

"Fools!" The dark dressed male's voice thundered out, "You shall ALL parish! Die, suffer into the dark depths of HELL!!!" He spoke in a roaring tone, full raged with them all, "You have taken away MY Maria!" The energy in his grasps brightened, ready for his full attack.

They begged louder. Explaining each story of their lives, like the male cared. Pleading for mercy and sympathy. Anything to keep their own selfishness alive for a few more years, where they would be faced with the same problems of death.

His smirk widened, hearing their pleas. They were pathetic. Bowing before him. He would not give into them. The pictures in the back of his mind pointed to every individual who surrounded him. They were just fresh flesh he could just rip open. They would feel what Maria did, but worse. He would make sure of it.

"Not while I'm here, big guy!" One face stood out from the crowd, but he had not been there this whole time. Shaggy blue hair, draping over emerald green eyes. The boy had a confident stance with a smile to match. One of the people who were not afraid of death. Not your average everyday human at that. A short sleeved, unbuttoned jacket rested upon his shoulders and bare skin. Bright blue pants hung from his hips down, almost overlapping two red sneakers.

The boy stepped forward, looking a little younger than seventeen. He pointed a white gloved hand towards the pale male. His brows narrowed, but his smile did not seem to disappear, "You want to play? Come on, let's dance." A battle stance came across his movements, awaiting the other's answer.

An audible 'humph' was heard, along with a few words, "Flattering. An actual human would stand before me and want to fight." A low chuckle seemed to escape his lips as he kept his vision towards the blue hair boy.

"Don't underestimate me." One eyebrow perked up, amused at the other's cockiness. He did not know of any villain who has felt themselves so focused of superiority. He knew he was up to his waist in a fight this time, but not once would he stand down.

The humans noticed the male was focused more on the boy than them. They quickly snuck away, thanking God. But they should have been thanking the mysterious blue haired boy.

The male's attention was more on the boy, not caring about the pathetic people. He was convinced no one could stand a chance against him, not even this regular human boy. He brought his hands closer together as the energy fused within one another. Palms faced out, aimed and fired the deathly attack at him. The crimson laser gave off sparks as it forced the male back a bit, but rampaged onto its target.

The poised smile widened, as he dashed out of the way, barely missing him. One knee rested on the concrete, next to a red shoe, but in front was a white gloved hand. His lime green eyes watched the dark male with interest, as he stood to his feet once again. Crossing his peach arms across his bare chest he let out a small snicker, "Wow. Impressive. Really thought I was going to die there." Of course he did not, he just likes teasing with people. He spoke again, while his finger traced under his nose a bit, "But Let's get serious," His smiled faded slightly at that, "You called me human, but aren't you? You look pretty 'human' to me."

A look of disbelief fell to his face, as if he were slapped right then and there. No one had EVER dodged one of his attacks before. Not a mere mortal at least. His smirk soon transferred to a frown. He thought to answer back, but he was more in raged that the other had not been effected by his attack. His palms began to glow again, the same red color as before, but he charged at the boy from the air and swung his fists left and right.

"Whoa!" Not expecting a harsh reaction like this, he skidded back to keep from getting hit by the left hook, but got hit hard by the right hook. His body spun down, rolling with his side crashing into a lamppost. He cringed a little, but not because of his side. His cheek felt like it had been in contact with acid. Afraid to touch it, his hand drifted just above it.

"So, the blue hair boy HAS a weakness." The male in the trench coat spoke out, more so to himself. His thick boats fell to the asphalt street and began walking over to what looked like the helpless human. His fists still burned bright, as did his eyes. His smirk returned, knowing it was just luck that the other had dodged his attack, "Since you put up a decent fight, I'll make your death easy and painless, human." His deep voice hinted signs of evil with his sentence.

The boy struggled to his hands and knees, giving the other his usual smile, "Oh, Its not over." He quickly got to his feet, grabbing a hold of the post, gripping it tight. Forcing himself up and around, he sent a powerful kick to the other's face. After, he leaned against it, corking one brow up, "Its only getting started."

The kick to the face did not hurt as much physically than it did mentally. Thus inferior being was actually fighting back and some-what accomplishing it? None of this registered in his mind. Who was this mysterious being that stood out from the rest? He was not normal. Not scared.

The dark haired male stood there dazed for a moment before looking at the boy. A bitter stare threatened to stab at the other, if it could. He was growing very impatient with him. "Who are you, human? And why do you not stand down and take death as it is given to you?" His voice some-what curious with a trace of anger.

The boy buffed his nails against his chest before blowing at them. His emerald eyes looked right through the other's harsh gaze as if it were nothing new. His mouth opened as he spoke, but the grin still carved at his lips, "I'm Sonic, and let's just say I die hard." He stood on his own two feet, as his arms folded over one another, resting upon his chest, "And let me guess, you aren't going to give me an answer back, eh?"

The male thought about attacking again, but the same result would come out of it. If he kept a conversation maybe the other's guard would open long enough to get in an attack that could do some real damage, "My name is Shadow, the ultimate life form." He found it very difficult to keep it since that was all he knew about who he truly was.

A sound of understanding came from Sonic, "So, Shadow, that's why you call everyone humans. But what are you really?" He really did not want to fight at this point, only figure out who he was. Fighting is fun and all, but he gets that enough from a mad scientist running around, but that is a totally different story.

The boy's question was aggravating. He had no knowledge to actually answer the question handed to him. He felt the urge to simply walk away from the blue haired human. He gave a dull answer, "Far more superior than you, human."

The boy blinked in confusion. He did not imagine he would get such a plain answer. Cocky at that. It also got a little annoying that the other actually knew his name, but still insisted to called him 'human.' He let out a small pout before continuing, "That sure helped me understand." A sarcastic tone pierced all across the sentence, "So, 'superior one,' why attack the town's people?"

His teeth locked together, letting out a low growled between them. His back turned to the other, stomping away in pure furry, "Stop wasting my time." His pride was being stabbed at, over and over. Every question he would not answer was killing him on the inside. He would have to find more about himself, then, he would destroy this pest. He would not know where to look first, but it would be anywhere but here.

His brows perked up as he watched the other walk away from him. He started off with a sprint, only to stop at a complete halt. Did he really want to follow this cocky bastard? He was wasting his own time just talking to him. But if he DOES attack again, he would regret not taking him down in the first place. He shook his head, ruffling his bangs a bit before sprinting off in the opposite direction. He knew back home there would be dinner sitting on the table for him. Can't fight on an empty stomach, right?

Shadow stopped once he sensed the other had left from his sight. His questions, the same ones himself asked, he thought about. None of his actions made sense. He needed to find out the blonde haired girl's last wish. Once he would do that, all his questions would be answered.

He closed his red burning ember eyes and concentrated on her movement of lips. Total silence stood around him, concentrating hard on the inaudible words. His own mouth moved, trying to decode the syllables. A few words came out of it, "Give… them… you… live…" The words did not make sense, and words in between were still missing. He placed a finger to his chin and watched the sky, as if it had the answer. He shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets, "Whatever…" He murmured under his breath, letting the horizon swallow his figure from the town. 


	2. Chapter 2

The sun had set, giving the full moon as the only light in the deep navy sky. Replacing the sounds of beeping cars, there were crickets out playing their own songs into the night. Besides that, it was peaceful. All the people of the town went home from their jobs, visiting their missed families.

All except one loner, sitting in the darkness of an alley. Looking into the lighted apartment buildings, scowling at each human giving affection to lovers, as well as their kids, "Sickening." He whispered under his breath, clicking open a lighter and slid a stick out from a small paper box, "All of them, they make me sick." Crimson eyes narrowed, finally looking away bitterly as the lighter flared up, heating the end of the stick that was placed between his lips. He swiftly clicked it closed and shoved it in his pants pocket, taking a hit off the, what was now visible as a cigarette. Smoke lingered harshly from his fangs before blowing it out, "Once this world is under my control… these worthless humans… they'll feel nothing, but PAIN!"

In a near by apartment room, the blue haired boy scurried up the steps and opened the door, quickly making his way into the kitchen. As he sat down, he noticed his usual meal was not waiting for him to devour. He blinked a few times and looked under the table as if it were hiding there. He blinked once more before shouting a female's name, "Amy! Amy? You home?!"

A loud, glass shattering screech came from the backroom. The bedroom where this 'Amy' and him would sleep. Either that, or he would choose the coach.

The boy beamed up and noticed something was wrong. That scream, in fact, came from the girl he had been calling out for. Sneakily, he made his way to the half creaked doorway, whispering ever so softly her name once more, "A-Amy..?"

The scene he had saw was a lot less gory than what he had pictured in his mind. Then again, he was known for having an over hyper imagination at times. The young girl was laying up-side-down in the bed, with her head half hanging off the ledge. Her hand, which wore a golden bracelets, held a phone up to her unseen ear. It was hard to see from all of that pink hair that was atop her head. She giggled softly, followed by a rhythmic beat of "mmhmm"s. "No way! Like, OhMIGAWD! Did HE say that?"

With a half pout, the boy opened the door and folded his arms. He awaited to be noticed, but the girl did not send him one glance. He cleared his throat loudly, but still no response from the other. He rolled his eyes. What people said was true about girls. Once they have a crush, they won't let go of them until they get the other's attention. Then, after they actually have it, they don't want it as badly. In this case, not at all. Sonic was just steamed because there would be another dinner he would have to use a T.V, dinner. If he had this woman living with him, he wanted her to actually do something besides gossip on the Goddamn phone.

"Never mind." He wove his hand in defeat and walked slowly back to the kitchen, grabbing a T'V; dinner from the freezer. It seemed like this was his meal from each night. He sighed sadly, taking the wrapping from it and placing it into the small microwave. The boy moved out towards the balcony and rested his arms on the small stable fence. He felt lonely. Most of his friends had moved on. Doing bigger and better things. And everyone seemed to have a girlfriend too. He wanted something different. It seemed if girls were the reason the 'Hero Team' had broken up. No one had time anymore. He missed it.

Tails. He was fifteen now. For him, it was out to do his own adventures. He did not need Sonic helping him out, not when the cute little girl, Cream was with him. He knew what he was doing, and grown up. A little too fast for Sonic's opinion. The two-tailed was out on his own life, saving new towns and cities when they were in need.

Knuckles. He was twenty, married to Rouge. He joined the army force known as GUN (Guardian United Nation.) It fit his lifestyle. Not only did he protect his Master Emerald, he defended the whole police force and then some. His rough ends had been smoothed out by the girl, known as Rouge, and is not as thickheaded as he use to be. He could even creak a smile without busting a mirror.

Sonic sighed again as he laid his chin upon his arms, looking down at the starlit city. Peaceful, just the way he wanted it, but for the exception of the girl in the other room gabbing away to God knows who. The green eyes wandered a bit as he felt a sudden breeze of air hit his skin. His head perked up a bit as he saw a mess of purple and red clouds act as whirlwinds into the sky. The boy squinted his eyes slightly to get a better look at the strange cloud formations.

First, bird-like creatures flew out from it, then other figures. They all seemed to be colored black, but it was too far away to tell. Mysterious creatures were just randomly dropping from the sky as if it were like a natural effect, like rain.

The boy had a to blink a few times before he could make sure what he was seeing was actually there. If it was, that meant he had to spring into action, and fast! He gripped the metal fence around the balcony and swung his body up and over it. His body fell a few floors, but landed on both feet on the ground (A normal human would at least land on their ass, or have some sort of broken bone). He got off to a running start, but it quickened even more, causing the friction from his shoe to make flames form behind him. His only focus was getting downtown, to Westopolise and stopping any threat there.

Sonic was not the only one who had noticed irregularity in the atmosphere, Shadow did as well. A smirk curled from his lips, letting the stick fall to the ground, "Show time." He walked forward, stepping on the cig in the process. He could feel a strange energy and he knew it all too well. It was the Chaos emerald. It was near.

The blue haired boy had only been in the area for two seconds before he had his hands full from so many black creatures. He kicked upwards at a flying bird? His emerald eyes noticed even more being, beside the flying ones. Some walked on two feet, carrying arsenal! He balled his fists up as they began to surround him, their strange weapons aimed at him. Before any could shoot, he did a speed of light round house kick, forcing most to the ground, but not enough.

One of the black creatures got a hold of him, not letting go, as other gathered around, aiming their laser cannons at him.

The boy struggled as much as he could, not looking away from the alien weaponry. There was a nervous knot in the pit of his stomach. Knowing what bullets actually felt like was one thing, but not knowing what was going to happen when a trigger was pulled was another. He tried to forced himself free of the black creature behind him, but there was no escape. He could only watch as more monsters surrounded him, aiming at him.

A shot rung out from the sky, creaking asphalt near the blue haired boy. Green drips of organic liquid came from the monster that held the him. Sonic stumbled forward, watching the alien slowly decay into nothing but a big boiling pool of green blood. His heart raced in his throat, wondering where that had came from.

From, what seemed like nowhere, Shadow stood before the mob of black monsters. A reload sound came from the shotgun that was barreled between his stiff hands, as the shell fell to the ground with nothing but a small ding. His face was lowered, showing no facial features, only two scarlet eyes, "Who's next?" His deep, hate filled voice asked as if any of them had a real choice.

The creatures did not back down. Most were too brainless to even do so. Like Zombies of some kind. Black, scaly skin, with shades of red here and there, with two big yellow eyes. They rose their bizarre weapons before him.

"Either you're asking for a funeral, or you're just plain stupid." The large shotgun was thrown in back of him, only to reveal two black hand guns from under his trench coat. One huge leap sent the male into the air, over the crowd of black enemies, up-side-down. As he grasped onto the two guns in his hands, he pulled the triggers wildly, firing shot all around them.

Some hit in the chest, splattering a mess of green organ upon the street. Other's shot in the arms, legs, or stomachs, only to linger in their own pool of flesh until died from loss of their living fluid. But most, hit their target. Right in the head, crushing the skull as brains exploded into the air, only to rain down to the ground. Either way, they all ended up the same way. Transforming into nothing but a puddle of bubbling green slime.

Shadow landed with on knee on the ground, and arms crossed, so the guns pointed at the ground. His back faced his targets, hearing the last give out a screeching howl before drizzling on the pool of blood. He stood up tall, putting the two guns into their rightful place inside his long coat.

The boy sat on the ground in aw, just looking at the acid like pond for a few moments with his jaw dropped to the ground (if it could). His emerald eyes glanced at the back of the tall male that had destroyed a dozen black creatures within the time of one jump. He stood weakly and swallowed hard. He had been saved, right? He should go thank him, or at least congratulate him. He nodded to himself at the thought and ran over to him. His smile returned speaking in a high pitch, but normal fashioned voice, "Now, That was sweet, Shadow!" He stopped, but he noticed the other was not giving an eye contact what-so-ever.

The dark one lifted his head up, but did not once glance at the boy. He let out a light laugh at the compliment that was forcefully blurted out to him. He had no reason to argue, but he added to the other's fears, "Yeah. Well, I'm not here to save you." He began his slow steps, so he could be on his way.

The boy's eyes opened wide, seeing the other walk away. Shadow could not be as bad as he thought if he just saved his life. No matter what words were sent his way, he knew that he was being protected, "Wait!" He protested, as he sprinted over to him, looking him dead on. This 'bad-guy' would never admit he would to a good deed, even over his death bed, "I thought you would say something like that."

It was actually nice to talk to someone other than a gossip loving queen, even if it was not as social as he hoped. It would be nice to have a real friend again, either that or someone to tease around a little when his 'saving the world' days get a bit stale. The interesting thing about Shadow was that he was different. You could enjoy his presence without words (well, most). Now, only if he could find a way to keep him around. A sudden idea came to mind as he started his sentence with a thumbs up, "How about some friendly competition!"

Dark eyebrows motioned powerfully downwards, but he simply shifted directions. His back would face him and his arms folded over one another. He was getting very aggravated with this human, even if he did not act it. This mere human did not have the answers he was looking for, since, he was asking questions about him before. He had no more use for such a weakling now. More important things were on his mind, "Don't waste my time."

The blue haired boy popped up in front of him again. His smile, wider than ever. He backed off a little. There was no way he wanted his head blown straight off his shoulder right now, "Well, at least let me help. I have to clean up these black creatures anyway." His gloved hand reached to the back of his neck and rubbed at it nervously.

"No, you'll get in my way," He answered sharply. He gave off a 'tsk' as he watched the other's hopeless face. He could sense loneliness a mile away. He, himself, was the definition. Instead of being headstrong and coldhearted, the boy showed signs of a lost puppy. He sighed deeply, looking away. He did not want to bring a pest like him along with him, but ignoring that face was hard to do too. He threw another excuse out there, for the other to feed off and leave, "Besides, I'm not here to 'clean up' these monsters. What I'm searching for is of higher rank." His heavy boots took a step back as if to walk in the other direction.

The boy made a sad sound of understanding. He knew what the other wanted and he could not leave the town being attacked. And let's face it, GUN troops were too weak to hold off this level of emergency. His smiled faded, but he looked up at the tall male, trying to force it back on, "Y-yeah. Well, I'll see you later?" He saved Shadow the trouble in walking away from him, by doing just that. His head watched his red sneakers as he shoved his hands into his pockets. It was going to be a long night.

The male watched the other leave and that damn feeling of guilt was getting to him. He truly did hate emotions. Helping would surely slow down his time for collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds. It was so hard to turn down such a lost human like him. Especially if that human was quiet different from the others. He was no coward and actually had the balls to fight back. Barely, but he did none the less. He let out a loud aggravated noise when he obviously knew what action he was going to take next. He lit up a cigarette before calling over to him, "Wait up." Guilt was such a pain in the ass, it was not even funny.

The boy dressed in blue looked over his shoulder as his head perked up a bit. Did this mean what he thought it meant? He blinked a few times as the other made his way over to him. Just looking at him, he knew what he was doing. His smile returned to his face and stood tall, "I promise not to get in your way too much, Shadow." He practically saluted to that, if it was not for sudden excitement of actually being teamed up with someone again.

Shadow's eye contact did not meet the other's. His eyelids hung lazily over the two red rubies as he dragged ass to be the 'leader' of this mission. Of course, ALL of the creatures would have to be destroyed before going on to where he wanted. It seemed like a pure waste of time to do, but if it stopped his guilty conscious, that was already filthy from many deaths, that was all that mattered. It was not like he would have to drag this kid around everywhere he went, right? He let the stick rest between his lips as it slowly turned into ashes, fluttering the waste into the air. "Just… don't touch my weapons and you're good."

Sonic did not find any reason to feel discouraged that male not to be up front. He DID have the flashy moves and the guns to prove it. He willingly walked in back of him, glancing up at him every once in awhile. The scar on Shadow's right eyelid made the boy wonder, "That scar. Where did you get it from?"

Shadow's steps stopped suddenly, trying to find a way to answer without giving too much information to the boy. He began walking again and answered, "Humans." The word practically spat from his mouth as the bitter sting that left behind all pictures in his mind. It was indeed when he was aboard the ARK. The same place where the innocent blonde angel got shot.

Sonic could not help but wonder what Shadow actually was and why he hated humans. He looked it, but nothing as it seems. Nothing in his life was as it seemed. If that was true, why could he see through most of the male's comments? For anyone else, the only thing that could see was a coldhearted villain with an expressionless face. How could be possibly understand such a creature? And how did he know if he was even human or not? All of the questions and thinking were starting to give him a headache. If he let things go, questions will answer themselves. 


	3. Chapter 3

  
For Shadow, he had gotten the job done easier than expected. He hardly even had a scratch on him. More bullets were wasted than energy. And the thing was, there was one left. There is ALWAYS one left. The bad thing was, they were at a dead end. The street caved into a nothingness below. Meaning one thing, they had passed one up.

"God damn it." Shadow rubbed the point of the gun on his frustrated forehead (Not the safest thing in the world, but he had skills). He turned, bringing his attention to the boy who had followed him. The other was somewhat of a help to him on getting the creatures off his back, but he, himself, did most of the work.

Sonic's vision was not on the male at the time. He was looking around, trying to find that last monster. Where could it be, and how could they possible pass it up. His gaze finally fell on Shadow. He opened his mouth to speak, but noticed something they made his eyes grow wide, "Sh-Shadow!? Where are you doing?!"

Yes. The dark clothed male was holding his handgun, aiming at the blue haired one. One eye squinted to get a perfect shot, "Don't move." He whispered quietly. His finger rested cautiously on the trigger, then cocked it. The gun pulled up a bit, but the shell went flying towards his target.

Sonic let out a high pitch yelp and went to the ground as he heard the loud shot. He put his hands over his head in self defense shouted out randomly, "Please! Shadow, I'm sorry! Don't shoot me! I didn't mean it!" He hear a large plop in back of him, feel a pull on his leg. He looked over his should to see a half dead black creature with blood streaming down it's face, tugging lightly at him. He kicked the monster away and got up screaming, "AHHH! Zombie!!!" He sprinted behind the long trench coat, peaking his head from the other's body to watch the THING.

Shadow just rolled his eyes, "Pathetic." He walked to the black alien, ignoring the cries from the boy. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at the twitching being. He placed his thick boot above it's head, then stomped down once. A puddle of green soon formed around his foot.

Something was different though. The liquid suddenly turned clear, water-like. The water rose up into a small glowing ball, then spat back to the street, where a gem floated in its place. It was a blue Chaos Emerald. He grabbed it and attached it to a chain on his loose pants, next to a green emerald he had found earlier. A light laugh escaped his lips, "Maybe this was not a complete loss after all."

Sonic gave off a nervous smile before actually looking to see what Shadow had. It dawned on him that that was what the male was looking for. The boy had no use for them, but if that is what he was after it would be easier to help him out. He could truly understand any future missions. If the other would let him hang around long enough for that, "So, you're after the Chaos Emeralds. Why?" He scratched his shaggy hair atop of his head with a tilted head, "For more power I'm guessing."

Shadow shook his head and watched the other, "No. I need these to uncover the truth about my past. If I keep collecting them, I'll eventually meet up with Black Doom." His gaze fell to the starry sky above him. The moon's light reflected off his scarlet eyes slightly as a small wind blew passed, swaying his coat a bit.

Sonic was finally getting some answers from the other. Maybe this was a sign of opening up to him. It felt somewhat nice to actually have fairly good friend. But he wanted to know more about the information given to him, "Black Doom?"

Ruby eyes shot at the boy. He had to think a minute. He did not know he actually blurted out his thoughts like that. He was use to being alone and talking amongst himself that he forgot the other had been there. He folded his arms and gave off a pout, regretting even saying anything at all, "Forget it."

Before Sonic could get out any words in response, a deep voice was heard in back of them. It looked like a big black, floating starfish with a large red eye in the center. It hovered high above them and spoke out with a bitter tone, "You failed me, Shadow. You betrayed the Black Arms!"

Shadow stepped forward, in front of Sonic slightly. He gave a confused look to the floating monster as his hand secretly hovered over the gun inside his large coat pocket, "What are you talking about? Betray? I don't even know who you are."

"Ah. Shadow. You lost your memory when you came to earth, I see." The creature gave off an evil cackle as a huge flying demon came into the back view of it. The red eye widened with evil delight and spoke again, "Let's see if THIS will remind you!" It suddenly faded away into the air.

The beast with huge having a similar red eye on it's pudgy face. The mouth opened sideways with two large opening flaps that had sharp fangs connected to it. Its huge black body was held over the ground by two small red wings. It let out a long thundering roar as the eye began to glow.

Shadow was taken back a little by the looks of the huge monster that stood before him. Backing up a little too much and slightly bumped the boy behind him. He pulled out his handguns and got ready for the big thing to attack.

Sonic watched the being with his regular smile, but noticed Shadow was a little hesitant by it. He tried to keep the other as positive as he could. He stood to the others side and gave him a optimistic look, "This will be fun!" His grin grew after his sentence, closing his eyes.

The other's statement calmed his nerves a bit, but he still needed to keep this situation serious. He made sure his weapons were ready and looked at the other, "Just don't get in my way." The last thing he needed was to make this harder with the other's 'help.'

"Same goes for you, buddy!" He sent the other a quick wink before running off to the black beast.

Shadow took a step back with a shocked look on his face, but shook it off. His eyes narrowed and followed after him, "Get back here!!" He was surprised at the speed the other was going, and how difficult it was to keep up with him, "If you die, I'm not burying your fucking body, human!"

One eyebrow cocked up as he watched the male who follow close behind him, "Don't underestimate me."

The monster let out another violent cry as other little flying black creatures swarmed around it for its defense. They sent teal, glowing lasers at them.

Sonic dodged the lasers with great effort, then jumped high, onto one of their heads. He kicked off it as it turned into a green pile of mush, to another higher flying one, doing the same thing, reaching a higher flying one. He jumped from the third one and did a quick flip as he was under the big blubbery beast. He fell downwards to it's gigantic eye, shoving his heel into it. "Got cha!" He shouted out in excitement, but watched helplessly as the monster pushed him back. He fell towards the ground hard, doing multiple flips and face plants on the street before he skidded to a halt, on his back. His panted, breathing irregular from the wind being knocked out of him for a moment.

Shadow was actually impressed by the performance, but it was Sonic's dropped guard that got the boy hurt. His dark eyebrows arced downwards over his worried, widened eyes. His gaze fell back at the beast, it seemed to be in serious pain. The boy had found its weak point. So, the attack was not a total failure.

The big creature was not done yet. It shook off the pain and targeted the boy on the ground. The husky mouth opened wide, the two flaps spread out all the way, as something flared up in it's throat. It was about to send a fireball straight at the defenseless boy.

"Shit! Get up, human!" Shadow warned the boy, but there was no response, "Damn.." He hurried over to Sonic, putting both handguns away. He need free hands if he was going to get him out of there. He really hated feeling guilt. This kid was not his responsibility. So, why in all the Hells was he acting like his fucking babysitter? By the time he got into close range with the boy, the creature's attack was practically burning out of his mouth. He had to move faster! He sped up his pace and kneeled down to him, then looked over his shoulder. The blast was coming right for them, "Shit!!" He quickly took off his trench coat and laid it atop of the boy. Then, at the same time, protecting Sonic's body with his own. Intense heat came at his back, almost blowing him forward, but stayed where he was at, to defend the other. He closed his eyes tightly and felt the fire eat away at his flesh. He could not help a loud cry of pain escape his lips. His fingers clutched at the black coat under him and locked his teeth together hard. As the attack faded slowly, his head hung from his shoulders, panting heavily. He stood up weakly as the remains of his undershirt began to chips and fall off his chest, fluttering into the breeze. Cringing fiercely, he reached for the two handguns from the straps on his loose black pants. With hardly, or no movement at all, he blasted away at the small flying creatures around.

Shadow was serious this time. Pure hate raged inside his eyes as the two emeralds started to hover. They would have floated away if it was not for them being attached by his chains. Series of winds picked up like whirlwinds around him. He closed his eyes peacefully, only for them to opens again, with a royal blue tint, as well as his whole body.

Sensing a threat, the large creature sent another fire ball his way. This one came at him with a faster pace.

"Chaos Control!!" He shouted, and time slowly began to stop. It was easier to deal with the creature while there was no movement. He bashed through the fire ball as if it were nothing at all. He jumped up into the air and hovered there as he pulled the triggers of his guns viciously, giving no mercy to the beast.

Each shell pierced the red eye, until it was nothing more than a soup of lime blood. From the intense speed the bullets were going in, the shots actually rammed through its whole body and creaked the asphalt, breaking it into huge holes.

Time slowly came to as his body fell calmly to the ground. His knees bend slightly, taking in greedy gulps of air. His lids rested lazily over his eyes as the blue washed away. He shook his head, trying to keep the dizziness from getting to him.

The creature screeched out in full pain and suffering. It looked as if its body was decaying. Random holes forming in its skin, as streams of crystallized green soaked through them. The wings gave it, forcing it to the ground, where more wounds ripped open, causing more blood to squirt out around it. The monster's body was about to blow and its blood was anything but friendly. It was acid.

It was, yet another thing he had to worry about. His practically dragged his legs, forcing them to run to the blue haired kid. He could sense the beast's skin bubbling up and growing thinner. He only had a few seconds to get to safety. Being the hero was physically starting to hurt. It was seriously a waste of his time and energy, not to mention a pain in his ass. His body began to glow light blue again, he only had one shot at this and he was going to feel drained the next day, he could tell. He dashed forward holding the boy (who was still covered up by the jacket) close.

The black skin deteriorated away and a huge explosion of acidic green slime was forced all around. Eating away at anything, streetlights, buildings, cars, and even the streets itself.

Only a few sprinkles hit his cheek before he shouted, "Chaos Control!!!" And disappeared from sight. It did not matter where he went, anywhere but there. He never had this sort of trouble with such a lower ranking demon before. His emotion of guilt was stabbing at him with such force he could not ignore. It was slowing him down and making him more vulnerable to attacks. He was just glad it would be all over soon and the boy would be on his path and out of his way. 


	4. Chapter 4

-  
Bright sunlight was burning on the eyelids, causing any vision behind them to look at a blurry orange color. Scarlet eyes slowly uncovered, looking straight down at a tan stone floor. He let out a light moan of not wanting to move at all, but he knew he had to. He motioned his head to the right and a relieved sigh escaped his lips when he saw that the boy was next to him, curled up tightly in his long trench coat.

The next thing he needed to accomplish was where they were. The location was different from anything he has ever seen. It looked very dry. Temples were scattered about the place. It looked like some kind of ruins to an ancient civilization of some kind. It did not interest him at all, and if it was not for the faint sense of a Chaos Emerald, he would have teleported out of there.

He got up painfully, let out a few whimpers here and there, but nothing major. He always tried to keep his suffering bottled up. If someone did find out any weaknesses of his, who knows what could happen? He would have a right to scream bloody murder from how messed up his back was.

He shook his head, trying to get his mind off something besides the pain. He glanced down at the sleeping boy and figured that it was time for them to get up. At this point, he was sick of wasting time. It was the last thing he needed.

He was not the only one getting frustrated with time. Black Doom was too. He made a deal with him. If he handed over the seven Chaos Emeralds to Black Doom, Doom would tell him his past. A fair trade for him. Just as Sonic, he had no real use for the emeralds either.

Shadow carefully nudged the thin body under his coat. He, himself, never liked people screaming for him to get up, he knew how it felt. He whispered to him, "Wake up, human."

Sonic just switched positions so his back was towards the male and nuzzled his face further into the leather coat that covered him. His voice was muffled and tired as he spoke, "Five more minutes."

A growl vibrated into the pale one's throat, getting more than aggravated with his orders being ignored. He balled one hand into a fist, sending it straight to the other's head, "I said, 'Wake up,' Damn it!" He stood up, folding his arms over his bear chest, looking out at the stone path ahead. If they were going to get through this in at least a half of a day, they needed to start quickly.

A loud yelp came from the blue haired boy, waking tiredly from his sleep with a huge bruise at the top of his head, "What was that for, Shads?!" He rubbed at the throbbing skin under his bushy hair and mumbled more complains under his breath.

He turned his attention to the boy as he heard the word 'Shads.' He looked at him with disgust, but did not say a word before shaking his head displeased. He would let the other off with a warning with the whole 'nickname' thing, but if he said it again, he would make sure it would never happen. Excepting the nickname meant him staying longer than he needed to and Shadow would not have that.

Sonic pushed out his bottom lip out a bit as he pouted so the other would give him pity, but it was not working. He sighed and shook his head, standing to his feet. It was easy to get under his skin, but very difficult to for his mind. He would never cut him any slack, I mean, they just went into battle. Parts of his body were sore from his fall.

Sonic unwrapped the coat that had been snug around his body. It had a strong odor of leather. It must have been new, there was not any weak points in it. From how Shadow fought, let's just say he probably went through a lot.

He stepped around the male so he could place the coat over his shoulders, when he stopped dead in his tracks. His emerald eyes widened and dropped the black jacket, "Shadow!" He gasped out, looking at the other's back.

It was burnt really bad with blisters and scabs scattered along the pale skin, but it was worse in the center of it. It looked horrible. It would probably take weeks to heal. How could Shadow be standing, or even arguing with him for that matter? He must be a lot stronger than Sonic thought.

Shadow turned suddenly, glaring at the other with crimson eyes. He was hostile about other people mourning over his wounds. He did not like when other's knew about them. It made him feel weak when other's took pity on him, especially a human. He took a step back, just so the other would not come and try to take a look, "Leave it be, human. It's none of your concern!" He placed one hand out as his facial expression grew colder, "Now, hand me my coat!" He wanted it, just so he could cover his back and leave it at that.

He did not like how Shadow was acting, it kind of scared him, like he would tear him apart right now. He leaned down at grabbed the black leather jacket and held it out for the other to take. He flinched after it was snatched from his hands, backing away a bit. He would not dare say anything, if he did it might make matters worse.

The black haired male draped it over his shoulders as the bottom gracefully fell to the stone ground. He placed the collar up, then began walking. He did not want to talk, he just wanted the boy to stop following him. He was not even suppose to come this far with him on his mission. Loud steps from his thick boots continued on a similar beat as he heard slower quieter steps from behind. He needed to find the emerald that was here, then, drop this kid off in his home town. He was wasting too much time.

Every once in awhile, emerald eyes glanced at the back of the other's midnight hair, then back down. He could not help but feel guilty about the Shadow's back. It was his fault. If he was not unconscious maybe he could have defeated the beast. He checked his arms and legs. They were not burned. Meaning, after his fall, he was not injured by anything else. How could that be? His guard was completely gone. He would have had some sort of damage done to him, unless. His head shot up and looked at the male again.

He could feel the other's gaze on him. He had for a while now. Why was he being watched? It was driving him crazy, just like when you are in a quiet classroom and someone has a runny nose. (Yeah, that annoying). He decided not to scare Sonic so much as he had before. He did not look back at the other he just spoke, "I've noticed you're been watching me for sometime, human."

The boy stopped almost falling over from the other's sentence. Did Shadow have eyes on the back of his head or something? He gave the black hair a childish glare before looking away at his feet, continuing to walk, "Yeah? What of it?" He folded his arms, gluing his eyes to the ground, like it was a crime to watch the other.

Shadow closed his eyes with irritation as an eyebrow twitched with fury, "It's annoying." He managed to say between gritted teeth, giving it his all to not scream at him.

The boy's voice grew louder with a hint of sarcasm, sticking his gaze back at the other purposely, "Sorry! Sorry for being worried about you! You happy, you stubborn jackass!?"

The male stopped, trying to get his rage under control, but from the looks of things, he was doing a poor job of it, "Sorry?! I don't need your Goddamn, human pity!" He did not turn towards him, knowing he would punch the other in the face if he did.

Sonic stopped as well, but his last step he stomped his foot down, almost breaking the stones under the sole of his shoe. His brows folded downwards, looking up at the back of a long black coat, "Stop acting like you're 'superior' over me! You're human too! And like all humans, we have weaknesses!" His body calmed a bit and continued with his words, "Just… let me help you, Shads."

There was that pet name again. It felt as if a nerve in his head would burst. He did not have patience for people what-so-ever. Maybe he would just drop the kid off at his home now, or even better, leave him here to rot. He turned to the boy and looked down upon him, looking into the saddened emerald eyes of his. This made him even more mad. His fucking weakness of guilt towards this one human kid. It was unbearable at times. He could not take it anymore. He was not going to let this human come between him and his past, "I want nothing more to do with you, human. Get out of my sight, before I do it," He creaked his knuckles, "Personally."

Sonic's face grew angry, only to have tears flow from his eyes. He could not pretend to act happy this time. He could not even think of anything cocky to say back. He felt like a lost puppy and his master just dumped him onto a street corner, not like that has not happened already to him. His gaze fell to the ground, using every bit of him to keep his tears back, but they could not be stopped. "Fine," He whispered, trying his best not choking on the one word, before turning and leaving with his head hung down from his shoulders.

He kept his glare, but as the other walked away it fell to the ground. He felt bad for doing it, but there was no way in Hell he would show it. What was said, was said, and he would not take those words back. He needed to focus on his own problems now. Such as Black Doom, the emeralds, and his past.

His sped his pace up to a jog, going down the steep path and ending into sandy ruins. He hid himself behind a stone wall, peering over the corner. Black creatures. Swarms of them, everywhere. He needed to be careful, since he was injured already, but this time he did not have to worry about protecting anyone. "…But what if Sonic tries to follow me, they'll get him for sure." His eyes widened, only to narrow and shake his head, "Forget about him!" He took his handguns out and reloaded them, "He's gone! Focus on your mission!" He sighed and closed his eyes, "My mission…" He pictured what attacks he wanted to do in his mind, as his fingers curled and un curled on the triggers, "My mission…" The boy suddenly flashed through his vision, picturing him being torn apart. He dropped his guns as his eyes opened wide, "Shit!" He leaned down and picked up his weapon, "I have to focus!"

He forced himself around the corner and watched as a battle between GUN soldiers and Black Arms. It was actually a breath taking sight if people were not going to die. There was no way he was going to get in the middle of this, he just wanted to get the emerald. He was about to sprint forward, when he heard a familiar dark voice.

"Excellent, Shadow. I see you've gotten rid of that pest, Sonic. Before things are anymore confusing for you, I work for Black Doom." The star shaped creature made its way into Shadow's view, but far enough to dodge any attacks the male would try to perform, "I'm Doom's eye. Made from Black Doom himself. Whatever I see, he sees. Let's just say, he's not pleased with the way you've been carrying out your orders."

Shadow watched the Doom's eye with little or no movement at all, "Doom said to get the seven Chaos emeralds, he did not say anything about HOW to get them."

"I see. Well, now you know. Don't attack our soldiers. I'll be watching you… and so will he." The little monster cackled as he disappeared from his sight.

The male stood there for a moment in thought, but noticed he was out in the open and ready to be attacked. A gun shot fired near him, far from a alien's laser.

He turned to a soldier, with noticeably bright red hair. His hands were wrapped around the gun, but lowered it as he saw what he had actually shot at, "Whoa! I'm sorry! You were dressed in all black, I thought you were one of the black creatures! I didn't get you, did I?" It was visible that he was a GUN soldier. He wore a navy blue army uniform, but he noticed something after that. He was wearing a gold chain with a white emerald around it.

Shadow stepped forward, deciding if he should kill the man, or snatch it from him. Either worked with him, "Where did you get that emerald?" The male said in a neutral voice.

The red haired man pointed to the white gem on his necklace, "This? It's a Chaos emerald. The black creatures are after it for an unknown reason." He changed the subject, "Are you here from the FBI to help us out? We called for reinforcements awhile ago."

Shadow wanted to rise his weapons up and shoot the guy, but that damn Sonic flashed through his mind again, "Damn." He whispered under his breath, "I need that emerald. How much are you willing to trade for it?" He could not believe what he was doing. This was so out of character for him.

"Trade?" The soldier shook his head, "I can't trade it. I'm protecting it. I have to make sure its safe."

Shadow used the tip of his gun to move the leather clothing from his leg, showing two of his emeralds on his chain, "I am too." He lied, but it did not show, "My mission is to collect all seven and make sure no harm is done to them." His acting was very good, he almost sounded professional.

The man shook his head once more, "I can't do that."

The black haired male tilted his head a bit, "You can't, or you don't trust me?" He took a step forward, kicking some of the dust behind him.

"I don't trust you. I don't even know who you are, but I'll be more than glad to give it to you if you prove yourself. Help us make a path to the exit of this ruin so we can get our men out of here and I'll reward you with this emerald." The red haired man stood up straight, turning his back slightly, as if the other would decline his request.

Wasting more time and going against Doom's orders. He was not going to be happy about this, but he wanted that emerald. Once he gets all seven, it won't matter anyway. Shadow nodded, "Alright. I'll do it." He stepped around the soldier, then looked back at him, "But tell your men there's a blue haired boy around here. I want him, alive. Understood?"

The soldier nodded, knowing exactly who he was talking about, "Sonic, right? He came with you?" The man asked as if he thought the other was lying.

Shadow made his way up the steps and answered casually, "Yes."

"I'll make sure he's safe, but weather or not you fulfill this mission, will depend if I bring him back to you." With that, he turned quickly, long hair moving with him, going the exact opposite direction as the other male.

The male bowed his head, even more determined to complete this mission. As the lighting grew brighter as he exited from the small tower he was under, he walked up the last step and leaped forward. He took care of the demons on the ground first, blasting away at their bodies, and if lucky their heads. Some seemed to be on floating platforms above. With that, he jumped up into the air, then flipped again, as if he placed his foot on something hollow and made his way on the lowest flying platform.

Lasers fired every which way at him, making it very difficult to concentrate on one target to hit. He vanished for a few moments, only to appear in back of them, on a near by raised area, kicking two in the back of the head, turning into mush under his feet. He did a running start, shooting into the air and landed hard on his feet to another area. Shots rung out at the flying creatures above, as nothing but their green liquid blood rained down. One by one he shot away at the other close targets on the platforms, hacking away at their fragile bodies. He quickly teleported to the sandy ground below, kicking a stone door open.

The GUN soldiers watched the mysterious male with awe, wanting to know who he was and how he destroyed more creatures than twenty army men combined. The men followed behind, knowing their missions though, but did not get into the male's way.

Shadow came to a small underground room. It seemed empty. Stone statues of a different kind of Black Arms aliens stood there. Creepy purple glowing swords stuck out, as rock hands grasped the hilts. They walls looked decayed and the ground matched. But, one the other side of the room, there was an exit. Most likely to the next section of the ruins.

He stepped forward hearing the others marching behind him. The place looked harmless, but Shadow did not want to take any chances. He used his thumbs to cock back on the two handguns in his possession and proceeded on his way, into the dark room. Once he got to the moist, mossy steps, he carefully climbed them, stopping at the exit. It was blocked off. He gave a slight push, but there was effect. He looked down at the crowd of men and spoke loudly, "Find a switch. Anything to get this passageway open."

The men nodded and began looking. If there had been a switch, it would be easily spotted. Meaning, they had to complete a different task before it would open.

One of the younger soldiers walked slowly passed one of the creepy statues. He watched it cautiously as he went by, like it would come to life at any moment. He stopped, squinting his eyes, looking into the stone eyes. They seemed to be following him every step he took. He walked closer and signaled one of the men over to him. He whispered, "Do… you see anything wrong with this statue?"

The other soldier made his way over to the other almost laughing at the ridiculous question, "These big pieces of rocks have been here for ages." He placed his hands on the other's shoulders and shook him a little, just to get the man to freak out more, "Afraid its going to come alive and get you?" He laughed, holding his gut.

But, at that very moment, the entrance sealed shut, leaving them in the dark, with nothing but the purple glowing swords as light. Torches inside the stone room abruptly flared up as if it were natural as a light switch.

The men huddled together (With the exception of Shadow) and prepared their weapons for battle. But where were their enemies? There was no sound, except for the soldier's heavy breathing, heard for awhile. The black creatures were in the room, but where?

"Look!" The young man from before spoke out from the others, pointing at one of the statues.

The rock began to chip away from the stone figure, crumbling onto the ground. Some bigger than others, until a sleek black coat began to form. The head broke away from its plaster prison, giving a loud echoing roar through the area. It's fangs hung sharply down its raven black chin, blinking twice with its inhuman yellow eyes. Soon, other statues did the same.

Shadow was taken back a little, "Oh shit." He whispered, not actually believing what was happening. He needed to keep the GUN soldiers safe or else he would not get that third Chaos Emerald. He jumped from the top of the room, to the bottom, landing near the men. Hopefully the soldiers had more skill than he thought, or this was going to be very hard.

The creatures had completely broken out of their shells at this time. They were a lot larger than the other one's he fought before. There were only about five, but they were big enough to surround all the men.

This was the time Shadow needed to spring into action. He leaped in the air, kicking one in the face.

The giant was knocked over, giving the others a chance to run out from the circle of enemies. One stayed encircled. Shadow.

One hand aimed a gun forward, and the other on over his shoulder, backwards. Bullets barreled wildly out of the weapons He circled around slowly, until he heard a familiar 'clank' noise. He was out of ammo. Right at the perfect time. He threw them down on a random spot on the floor and watched the creatures, noticing the bullets had no effect on their bodies.

The giants were closing in on him and it would not be long until they hacked away at his body with their strange alien swords.

Glaring over to the men, Shadow shout, "Take cover, now!" He had only one choice left and it might or might not cause the walls around him to collapse, but he had no choice. Once he saw that the men were secure, his body began to glow a bright red color. He could feel a strong amount of energy pulsing through his body. The two emerald hovered upwards, trying to glide away from the chains they were connected to. Under peach lips, fangs grew sharper and his eyes narrowed glowing with the same light that was around him, "Chaos…" He began, as if conserving the next word until he was at full power, "BLAST!!!" He shouted loud, as a barrier formed around his body. As the words were spoken, it grew, destroying all of the giants in one shot.

Once the energy hit them, they let out pain filled howls as their bodies slowly decayed away as if the barrier were some sort of acid. Green slime fell to the sandy ground, leaving a small moat of blood around the male.

Shadow fell to one knees, not use to letting out so much energy. But this was not the time to rest, one thing was on his mind. Getting this over with and seeing that Sonic was alright. He blinked at the thought, then, shook his head in disgust. His only thought was getting the third Chaos Emerald. He rose to his feet once again and called over to the men, "Is anyone hurt?"

The team of men responded and shook their head, showing that everyone was indeed ok. They appeared in front of Shadow for their next task, ready to follow when needed.

The male cocked a brow, wondering when he had become the leader of these men, but more power goes a long way. A weak leader, a weak escape. He nodded and began walking up the steps he had before, seeing that the door was open. Little sprinkles of sand dripped down from the ceiling of the next corridor as if it were water. It did not bother him, he needed to move quickly. These rooms were ancient, meaning they all could be buried alive by debris.

Sunlight met them again as they made their way out of the last hallway, only to look up at a hill, seeing many pillars falling from it. Could today be any unluckier? Men scrambled trying to get to the top of the hill, dodging the rolling objects. They were actually pretty good at it. Better than their fighting abilities.

It was a breeze for Shadow. He could jump higher than the height of most of them. And, naturally, he was at the top of the hill first. Looking back he saw the others were doing fine. Since they were preoccupied, he looked ahead at what they were up against. His shoulders dropped as he saw a huge tornado in front of him, coming right for them. He blinked, and slowly watched as the soldiers ran up the hill, passed him, and getting sucked into the whirlwind. He sighed softly and shook his head, "Humans are idiots." Stepping forward, he was dragged into the tornado, riding it, like it was nothing.

It threw him, and the men out and onto a different portion of the ruins. Shadow landed on his feet as the rest, on their heads. He noticed a recognizable red haired soldier standing not too far from him and the others.

The soldier looked at the male and walked nearer. He nodded once and smiled, "Thank-you…" He left his sentence hanging, signaling that he wanted a name from the other.

"I'm Shadow." His glare grew, "We had a deal." He held his hand out.

"Yes, of course." He detached the emerald that was hanging from his throat and handed it to him, "Thank-you, Shadow. You saved my team," He looked to the men who were on the ground groaning, "Well, for the most part. If you need anything else just tell me. My name is Knuckles."

He placed the white emerald down, onto the chain of his pants, looking down at all three emeralds. His crimson eyes met back with the other, "And the kid?" He asked, coolly, but internally was the exact opposite.

Knuckles shook his head, "I couldn't find him. Are you sure he came with you?" He folded his arms, but out of boredom rather anything else.

"What?!" The male took a step back, looking around as if he would find the boy somewhere. He clutched his fist in anger, having it shake a bit before grabbing the collar of the other's shirt, pulling him close to his face, "I said to find him!"

The soldier was shocked by the sudden force, stuttering his words together, not expecting such a raged reaction, "I-I'm S-sorry, Shadow. I l-looked everywhere."

Shadow dropped the man, knowing it would do no good by ripping the other's head off. No matter how ugly it was. He looked worriedly into the sky as if IT would give him the answer. His chest practically closed with anxiety, knowing the boy might be out there, getting attacked by those black creatures. He closed his eyes thoughtfully before looking back at the fallen man, "Get your men out of here, now. I'm through with you." The sentence stung at the other as the male began to walk from them.

Shadow had a new mission. Saving Sonic at all costs, even if it meant wasting more time. It would be worth it, just to know he was safe. He needed that comforting feeling so he could move on. A new emotion, regret was taking place now. If he had not scared the kid off, he would not have to be looking for him now. Let's just say, he could blame this one on himself. 


	5. Chapter 5

The whole day had passed before his very eyes. He did not know how, it just did. And the only thing he accomplished was a sick stomach and an empty pack of cigarettes. He could still be out there somewhere. He could be hiding from him, but at the same time he could be getting beaten alive by the Black Arms.

A black gloved hand went from his forehead and smoothed back on the already messed up spikes with complete aggravation and anxiousness. All of this worrying was going to send him insane, either that or he was going to puke his guts out right now.

His back slid down a stone wall and he sat in the dirty grass for a good ten minutes before thinking or doing much of anything else. At the most, he was taking in bigger hits than he could handle before throwing the stick on the ground, then lighting up another one. He could not help this stress, it was all his fault anyway.

His mind showed Sonic's death so crystal and clear. He almost started to believe it himself. Getting shot just like the blonde haired girl. He could not protect someone then, what makes him so sure he could now? He was proving this point right now.

He nuzzled his cheek into the stone wall before giving off a pained look after his imagination illustrated Sonic's death. His hand came forth and gently grazed the presence of the wall. "Oh God, what have I done…?" He whispered so only him, himself, could hear. It was not he had not killed humans before, so why was this kid any different? He took lives from women and children without a second thought. Maybe it was time to rethink these actions of his.

He punched at the wall, causing one of the bricks to fall on the other side with a loud 'thud.' He could not stand this. It was not natural for one mortal to be on his mind for so long. It sickened him in a way he could not explain. He punched at it again, this time followed by the words, "Damn it!!" Why did he want this one human kid's safety?

He lost it. He was turning into a damn nervous wreck without the extra annoyance at his footsteps or that irritating way the kid just stares at him from behind. He gagged on the taste of nicotine in his mouth as ashes fluttered behind him. What the hell was he doing? He needed to get over this and get to the next Chaos Emerald. It was just so hard.

Before another thought came to him, a sound of a loud propeller beat away at the sky above. A low flying plane? In this desert? Yes, a bright blue airplane zoomed across the baby blue ocean overhead. But it did not seem to be landing at the desert area at all. Just passed it.

Shadow stood up to watch it, thinking maybe GUN sent someone else to find the kid. That had to be it. He had no other choice. He followed after the plane, trying not to lower his hopes.

Meanwhile, in the core of Black Comet. The real Black Doom sat at his throne, watching the dark haired male closely as the star shaped creature sent off a projector from its own body. His three bright yellow eyes glared at the pictures being shown to him, "Shadow insists on betraying us? Then, we shall make him pay." He came forward, body floating a few feet from the ground, to look down at his minions. "My army. My flesh and blood. We will not have our day of reckoning being delayed by this simple minded fool. Go!" His thick, dark claw pointed towards the exit, "Capture the blue haired kid. We shall make him work faster, and stop these delays!"

The mindless aliens followed his lead and ran from him with the armor and weapons in their inhuman grasps. The barrier of the door opened, then closed with a cyber-tronic noise as the fleet left. It began to glow an indigo color again after sometime.

The dark leader stood alone now, still watching Shadow. "Maybe it was a bad idea to make a human hybrid. He listens to nothing and is gaining feelings for humans." He sat back to his throne and patted two black claws together, "but just as any interferer life form, I'll have to train him to be like the others." He let out a dark menacing laugh, "Here comes your first lesson!"

Back on Earth, not too long after. Shadow had finally lost the plane he was running after, but he did find himself in an unusual place. It had already reached night, so bright neon lights came from all directions. Bright and colorful. It almost looked like he was at a carnival. He kept his pace, maybe it was time to give up the search for the plane and look for the emeralds. But where? Three emeralds dangled from his chain and he spoke in a bitter tone, "Where is that Damn fourth Chaos Emerald?"

With that said, to his surprise, he heard the plane overhead once more. But a bright red neon light shinned from the base of its propeller.

The male stopped to look at it in disbelief, "A… Chaos emerald!"

The aircraft seemed to shake while it was flying. Something must have been going wrong. It was not long until a parachute was seen and the small blue plane went soaring to the other side of the theme park.

The white and yellow canopy was sent to the ground in front of the male. A short blonde boy appeared from it kicking it away slightly. He sighed, then noticed the other's existence, "Well, Hello."

He corked one eyebrow at him, seeing as he already poured a huge amount of fear into the sky blue eyes, "Hi." He seriously doubted this little kid knew anything about where Sonic went, but maybe he could use him for that emerald he had attached to his plane.

The boy rubbed his neck nervously and stuttered a little, "I-I'm sorry for intruding, but have you seen my friend. I found him running past the desert and I…" He blinked, noticing the other had already walked passed him, not listening to a word he was saying. He ran after him and watched him, "Will you help?"

He stopped and looked down at the pathetic look on the boy's face. But then, those blue eyes and blonde hair got his attention. Kind of looked like Maria's. He rolled his eyes and looked away, "I'm very busy. Tell you what? You find me a Chaos Emerald and I'll find you little human friend."

A smile shot across his face as if it was an unfortunate incident that he wants an emerald when he had one. He would always surrender anything to help his friends. "Oh! Yes! On my plane! After he's found, I'll go get it!" He laced his hands together in excitement, nodding a few times with it.

"Alright, human. What does he look like?" He folded his arms, trying to sound as bored as he could.

"Uh…" He placed his finger to his lip in thought, then his face lit up as if he got an amazing idea. He reached into his baby blue vest pocket, searching it a bit before taking out a picture. He watched it quickly, as if he was looking to see if it was the right one. He handed it to the male, "Here."

Shadow snatched it, then looked at it wide eyed. It was a picture of Sonic! This little kid was looking for him too?! Hope rose inside him, knowing he was alright for the time being. This had to be the luckiest experience of his life. He nodded his head and handed the picture back, "Alright, I'll help you, but as far as the emerald goes, It's as good as mine."

The blonde boy placed the picture back in its rightful place before looking back at the tall male. He bowed politely and smiled, "Yes. His name is Sonic. He takes care of me, well." He rethought that sentence, "He use to take care of me. I live in Tokyo, but when I heard about these black creatures suddenly appearing, I had to come back." He watched as the other began to walk, so he followed behind him. He wanted to get as much information out to the other as possible, maybe it would help, "I saw him running passed the desert area and when I called out for him, he just ignored me. I'm kindda worried." He fidgeted at his small black wristbands and continued, "He looked so sad. It reminded me of that time when he told me about his parents… abandoning him. Maybe, that's why he took me in." He frowned a little, still thinking about his last sentence.

Shadow's gaze fell to the ground. He felt like a full out jerk now. If he could find a word lower than that. He clutched his hands together as his face matched the little boy's for a moment, until he caught himself in the act. He looked forward, then stopped, "What the--!?"

GUN soldiers held their weapons to them. Instead of regular soldiers though, they were in armor, making them look more like robots than anything. One stepped forward and a voice came on from a speaker, "Shadow, you are under arrest. Come forward with your hands up. Our orders are to capture you dead or alive."

"That is…" A smirk appeared on the tall male's face, "If you can." He vanished in thin air, leaving the small boy by himself.

The blonde kid stepped back, looking all around confused. He was grateful that the armored men were not aiming at him anymore and looking around for Shadow instead.

The two robots motioned right and left as the men inside watched carefully. They felt a little scared, but they were soldiers and were trained for everything, right? Where could he have gone? Not far. He was closer than they thought.

Out of nowhere, a large boot was forced in the back of one of their heads, kicking off and jabbing the other one with his knee. He landed in the middle of the two, his arms stretched out, causing him to catch the two rifles that were knocked out of the men's hands. His swiftly crossed his arms over the other, aiming them at the men's heads, shooting them about three times with one pull of a trigger. Doing all of this with his scarlet eyes concentrated forward at the blonde haired one.

The boy's face look terrified after the two living being were dead so suddenly. His fists were forced to his mouth, letting out a surprised gasp. He did not want to move as tears formed in his eyes. Maybe he was not as brave as he thought. Maybe he should not have left Sonic to go to Tokyo. All he wanted was to find Sonic, because if GUN was after this… human, he must be bad news. "Wh-why?" He spoke out, choking on words.

Shadow used the barrel of one of the rifles to brush away a long thin bang away from his eye. "Self defense." He said simply, as if life was nothing more than spilled milk. His arms hang to his sides with the two large weapons gripping at them.

The boy shook his head eagerly, "No! Th-That was murder!" He meant to take another step back, but ended up tripping and falling to his ass. He huddled his jean covered legs to his bare chest and scrambled his white sneakers as close to his body as he could, closing his eyes as if it were a monster in his room. "S-Sonic! Help me!"

Shadow watched the boy with pitied eyes. He scared everyone on his own attentions. This might be telling him not to find the blue haired kid and just take the emerald… or even that. He continued to walk, leaving the young boy alone, he did not need to get more people hurt than were suppose to.

Once the blonde boy slowly opened his eyes again, the tall male was gone. It freaked him out, maybe he would appear in back of him and kill him like he did the men. He shivered, it all could have been a horrible dream, but the soldiers were laying dead in front of him. Proving that assumption false. He rose to his feet and began his search for Sonic solo.

After awhile, down the bright neon streets of the carnival, he only had to kill a couple soldiers on his way. Most had fled before he even had a chance, which was unlike him. He would usually hunt every last one down and make sure they had their last breath.

The path ahead lead to some sort of room, inside a big red tent. Weather it was a dead end or a secret entrance was beyond him, in any case, he could care less. The room was empty. A circus tent with stands, but it looked abandoned.

Shadow took a few more steps inside until he was at the center of the ring, slowly rotating in a one-eighty degree turn. He stopped, then looked up. A tightrope and it looked like there was an exit. He made his way to the ladder and began climbing it with one hand as the other held the rifles. He made it to the platform, looking at the rope before beginning to walk it. He walked it as if he were still standing on the ground. He stopped hearing a noise from behind.

"There you are!" The pitch of the voice sounded familiar, but the anger in it was expected. The rope swayed a little as a new weight was set upon it from the platform.

The male looked over his shoulder, in surprise to see what he was looking for. The emerald with resting in a white glove. '…A white glove…?' His vision met the person holding the gem. It was Sonic! He turned is body, giving full attention to him, "Where have you been. I've been looking for you."

Brows curved down at that statement, "Why!? So, you can catch me and send me to your leader, Black Doom!? I know all about you, monster! GUN told me." His grip on the red stone tightened with its aura glowing brighter.

Shadow was taken back a little when the boy called him 'monster.' "What are you talking about?" This hostility between them was making him feel uncomfortable, knowing this would not end well.

Sonic stepped forward, worrying more about the being in front of him than his balance, "The captain! He told me all about what you're doing! You're working for the Black Arms! You're only collecting the emeralds so you can hand them over to their leader so the black creatures can take over the Earth! Don't play dumb with me!!!"

This news caught his attention. So, that was why Black Doom ordered him to collect them. "I didn't know." Seeing that the boy was growing closer to him, he moved back, "I just want to know about my past."

"Liar! You want to kill us all!" His head swung down, having his blue bangs cover his eyes. His head snapped back up, shooting a hated glare at him, "I have to stop you, Shadow! I won't let you keep doing what you're doing! It's wrong! I have to destroy you!" He moved closer, swinging a hard left hook to his cheek.

The tall male got hit, mostly without hesitation. He did regain his balance by placing one foot in back of him, preventing him from fall the long way down. His face motioned back to the other, so he could see the mark that was left. He stood up straight again and watched him with nothing more than a neutral glance, "If you must, do it." His hand released the weapons in his hold and let them fall to the ground below and shatter.

A cocky smile appeared on his peach face and watched the male, "So you won't fight back, eh? Then, this will be a piece of cake!" This time he swung right, but was caught off guard when it was grabbed with such a fast speed, only inches from the other's face. He struggled to get his hand go and began punching (with the hand that held the emerald) at the other's chest, "Let go! You said you'd let me destroy you!"

Shadow's other hand grabbed the other's to stop attacking him. He pulled the boy's body closer to his, until they were touching. He gazed into the emerald green eyes below him and whispered, "I'll let you destroy me… if you can."

A deep blush appeared on his face, feeling his chest rest upon the other's. He kept a glare on Shadow, clutching his teeth together, sending angry growls his way. He could not help but to almost calm the rage from his face when it met with the sweet breath from the others whisper. He shook it off and continued his angered expression, "I can! And I will, Shadow!" He winced a little as the grip on his wrists tightened.

A pale cheek met the boy's as he continued to whisper, "Would you want to do that?" He sighed, nuzzling his cheek closer to the other's, "Would that make you happy?"

His eyes shot open, wondering if he should be disgusted by this, or enjoying it. The small breaths on his body sent the hairs on his neck to stand, but as the other's sigh hit, his body completely gave in and shuttered. His eyelids hung heavily over his vision and almost cuddled his face towards the other until the sentences Shadow was handing him finally registered, "Yes." His fingers grabbed at nothing but his palms, "I love this planet. I'll do anything and everything for it and the people who live on it."

"You love all the people on this ball of dirt, huh?" A few soft chuckles passed his lips, "Could you truly kill me and rape me of my life, when I live here as well?" His voice never rose from his whisper, but his grip on the other's wrists began to loosen.

The boy never thought of it that way, and if he WAS to kill him, that would be the first real person he has ever killed. He placed his forehead on the other's shoulder in frustration, "Stop it! Don't make this any harder than it already is!"

The male let the boy's hands fall from his reach and placed one on the back of the head where long blue hair hung from. He petted the locks for a moment, then stopped. His other hand snaked down to the hand with the emerald and plucked it from the other's hold easily. He clasped it to the chain, where the other's rested and stood up straight again, ruining the boy's resting position. He placed both hands on Sonic's shoulders and watched his eyes.

Still not noticing the gem was out of his possession, he looked back, up at the crimson orbs that gazed down upon his. The heat still painted his cheeks, unsure what to do or how to react to this silent stare. His arms rose, holding onto the other's for dear life. How was he suppose to destroy something so beautiful? The thought of it pained his face and he looked down.

Shadow watched him look down, wanting to see those emerald eyes of his. He needed his attention for a bit. How could he pain the innocent creature of Earth so much? It was his weakness, his emotions. They were coming at him with more force, so much stronger than the other times. Making him say and do such meaningful things. He was a killer, he never knew what the word mercy and care were. That is, until now. "Sonic."

A look of surprise fell on his face as he heard Shadow actually say his name instead of the word 'human.' His gaze quickly rose back to him, wondering what he could want. His stomach seemed to turn with such a strange feeling of butterflies, fluttering around, anxiously trying to find their exit. He seemed to move closer by this, in a total oblivion to their location (even if it was two stories high on a thin piece of rope). His grip on the leather sleeves of the other tightened more, if possible, questioning, "Yes..?"

"I promise you…" He let the sentence hang for a few seconds, looking down those arms. He motioned for them to fall away, so he could lace his fingers in between the other's. He watched, smiling at how large his were compared to the boy's. He looked back into those green gems on the other's face and slid closer, letting his lips linger near Sonic's before finishing, "I won't disappoint you." His lips gently placed against the one's in front of him, taking in a small sample of his taste.

Sonic's eyes widened as the heat burned even more at his fragile cheeks. It only lasted a few seconds before shutting them and feeling the lips that were connected to his. They were warm, almost feeling on fire as his mind nearly shut down.

It was the best feeling in the world, until it went cold. Very cold. His eyes opened slowly, not seeing the male in front of him. He was gone. He placed his finger to his bottom lip, trying to keep the warmth there, but it was not the same. Looking down at the other hand, it took him a good half a minute to realize the Chaos Emerald was gone. Was that the reason Shadow did all of this, just to grab the emerald and run?

Sonic would have fell to his knees right then and there if it were not for the rope under his feet. His eyes narrowed looking up, "That bastard!" He shoved his gloved hands in his pockets and walked the rest of the tight rope onto the other platform, "That idiot… He better not have kissed me to get that fucking emerald!" He stomped his foot in aggravation, then stood there with his arms crossed over on his chest.

He suddenly felt a sting against his neck, is if someone had just poked him with a needle. His vision began to blur a little, falling and laying on his stomach on the colorful platform under him. His body felt weak and heavy, using all the energy he has to just keep his head up, "What's going on…?" He felt sick and his dizzy vision was not helping at all.

He could not see anything, but could hear a deep echoing voice, "Relax. You've been poisoned, but its not fatal. It should wear off."

"Wh-what?!" Drowsiness getting the better of him, but he was too stubborn to quit, "Why would you do that?!"

"Don't worry. You shall find out, in do time." The voice broke out into laugher, but faded into nothingness.

All sight and vision was lost from him. He could not feel anything. His body just shut down into a nice calming sleep. When he is awoken, his problems will start. 


	6. Chapter 6

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Skies, dark from the barricade of night. A full moon seeped through the noticeable grey clouds. Black, dead like trees scattered the foggy path of nothingness. The place had a disturbing feel to it. The fog, slowly faded as the path ended, into a large gated entrance. Through the bars, a large haunted castle could be seen, as heated lightning lit the dark background, with the absence of rain.

"Doctor." Words from a deep voiced male came to play, as large boots stopped at the gate's entrance. It was Shadow. He had come to see Doctor Robotnik, whereas he could not help Black Doom anymore. The insane scientist had to know something about his past. Anything was better than nothing.

The gate squealed open as he walked down the damp trail, leading to the arched doorway. He reached for the large ring to knock on the door, but it had opened automatically. He stepped inside, seeing many dusted pictures on the wall. They seemed to all be starring at him as he walked down the red carpeted corridor/

Another door lay ahead of him. It matched the carpet with an edition of an Eggman icon on it. Remembering that he got rid of his weapons at the Circus area, he was ready to smash anything on the other side with his fists. He placed at head on the door and began to push it quietly. There was something on the other side, he could sense it. He kicked open the door, seeing a shadowed figure. He lunged forward and forced the creature against the wall, about to punch the shit out of it.

"W-wait! Stop! Stop!" A high pitched voice came from them. It did not sound like a threat at all. It was more scared and feminine. Proving that it was not a black creature at all.

Shadow released the being and backed away a little. He did not put his guard though. He kept a sharp eye on it, trying to figure out what or who it was, "Who's there?" He asked out cautiously, but stern to show no fear.

The person stepped forward, into the light. The first thing that was noticed was her short pink hair, wrapped into a red headband. Her hair accessory matched her red dress and boots. She watched him with terrified emerald eyes, panting a little for the startle the other had given her, "I'm Amy Rose. Please, don't hurt me! I'm only here because my friend went into this spooky castle and never came out!"

The only thought that went through his mind was that he found, yet another human. He simply rolled his eyes and began walking into the dark room. It was pitch black. You could not even see a finger poking you straight in the eye. He stopped, then noticed a nudge on this back. He let out an aggravated sigh. The girl was following him, "Why do you follow me, girl?"

Amy stepped back so she was not too close to the tall male. She swallowed hard before beginning, "I… I need your help. I can't find Cream alone." Her voice was weak, scared of the darkness and the male who was in it. She held her arms and waited for an answer, or even for him to at least speak.

He brushed his bangs back a little, watching the black nothingness as he thought. These human were very clingy and they were afraid of most everything. He was sick of doing these favors. He just wanted to find the Doctor and discover the truth about his past. He sighed, and had a look of sadness hidden in the dark. After he found out about his past though, what would he do? What would his purpose be after that? Its not like he had anywhere else to go. After this, meant he would soak in his own loneness. "Alright." He finally said, "I'll help you."

The girl smiled brightly, but not as bright as to light the room, "Oh, Thank you! You won't regret this!" She had the ability to walk next to him now, "My name is Amy Rose!"

The male kept his pace, and if it could be seen, he was sending her a very confused gaze. He spoke out plainly, "You told me who you were, human." He looked forward again, trying to find any sign of light, or even a different room.

"Did I? How silly of me!" She said in a nervous peppy voice. She cupped her hands together and tried to make out the others features in the dark, but it was total failure, "I guess, What I meant to say, What is your name?" Her smile widened.

The one thing he was thinking at this point was, 'Oh God, can her voice be a little more annoying. I don't think my ears are bleeding from their drums yet.' He kept calm though. He did not want to bring up anymore conversation, so he simply said, "Shadow."

"Shadow, huh? That's a strange name, but I've heard worse. I mean, I know this guy and he is BIG. Let me tell you." She held out her arms demonstrating how 'big' he really was, but stopped feeling embarrassed since she, herself, could not see what she was doing, "Anyways, his name is Big, and he's HUGE! I feel sorry for him sometimes, but he's a little slow in the head at times. Can you believe he doesn't even know his ABC's. And don't even get me started on his fashion. Have you seen his belt, it is SO last season. Brown isn't in style anymore. I mean, Come on! Talk about fashion disaster. He totally--" She was suddenly cut off by something covering her mouth.

That something, was Shadow's palm. His eyebrow twitched above his eye, wanting the nails on a chalkboard voice to stop. If he had to listen to that for two more seconds he was going to loose it. Giving a reasonable excuse, he whispered to her ear, "Be quiet. We don't know what lies ahead, and you would not want your eat devoured off, now would we?" He removed his hand, knowing it was safe to do so. He began walking faster at this point.

Amy fell behind a bit, scared something might jump out and attack her now. If staying silent was going to save her, she would do it. Plus, she had a nail appointment tomorrow at five. She would not want to miss that for the world. Gravity felt like it had shifted on her, almost seeming like she was falling backward. In fact, she was falling down, head first into whatever was below her. She let out a terrified scream.

Shadow turned around and heard that the girl's screaming was going downwards, fading more and more. She must have fallen down a trap door. The hole could be seen clearly since the room below had light. He jumped down it head first, forcing himself to fall faster so he could catch the girl before she broke any bones. He reached his arm out in front of him and griped her wrist and pulled her up into his arms as he swung his body around to land on his two feet just in time. He released the human and looked around the room.

Its light was coming from torches and it looked as if there were no doors what so ever. A dead end. What would he do now? There had to be a switch or something, it was not like the Doctor to have traps and not be able to bust your way out of them.

Amy took a seat on the floor, still a little surprised with her fall. Blushing a little, she looked up at Shadow, "Thank you. You're very kind." She gave him a smile, but it faded when she noticed the male had not paid attention to a word she said. The pink haired girl fiddled her thumbs a little, getting out another sentence just so Shadow would at least acknowledge her existence, "So, Why are you here?"

Checking the walls now, he spoke back, "The Doctor." He continued the slide his hand across the wall, seeing if there was a hollow spot, "I need to speak with him." He began to knock on each part of the wall, all sounding the same. He let out an aggravated sigh, not finding what he desired.

She rose to her feet, dusting her small red dress off a bit before saying, "Why do you want to talk to Eggman? He's not exactly the nicest person in the word. If you ask me, he's a big fat nobody." She ended her statement with a 'humph' and walked to the other side of the room and leaning against the wall, looking bored. After a few moments she knew she was not going to get an answer from him, so why bother. She blinked a bit, catching a muffled noise, "Hey!" She placed her ear against the wall she had been leaning on, hearing the sound a little better, "Shadow! I think I hear something on the other side of this wall!"

That got his attention. He quickly walked over to her and placed his ear on it, "Hm…" He concentrated on the noise with his eyes closed. "Move." He guided the girl away from the wall and balled his hand into a fist. He held his arm back and swung hard at the brick wall, causing it to crumble into nothing but dust and blocks

They both choked on the dusted air as it passed through the room. It slowly faded and fused in the room, revealing a little girl sitting in a ball on the ground.

She wore her light red-orange hair in two pigtails. She had on a sleeveless red dress with a white collar. Around her neck was a light blue tie. She looked up at both of them with large honey brown eyes, widened as she saw the pink haired girl. She got up and ran to her, wrapping her two small arms around the girl's neck. Her voice was faint and weak, "Oh, Amy! I was so scared! I was looking for Cheese and I searched one of the rooms and the wall just… just… locked me in!"

Amy patted her small friend's back trying to calm her down, but she had to admit, she would be freaking out if that happened to her too, "Its alright Cream. The good thing is that you found Cheese, right?"

The small girl pulled away a bit, whipping some of her tears away, "No! I can't find him. The last time I saw him, he was chasing after this one yellow jewel! I still can't find him!" She had the urge to cry again.

Shadow watched them both, only getting every other word until he heard 'yellow jewel.' It must have been a Chaos emerald. He noticed a corridor down the secret room. The small girl probably did not bother to move from fear. He looked back at the two and said, "Stay here, I'll find your damn Cheese." He began to walk, when he felt a tug on his arm. He looked down at the little girl.

Cream smiled with joy, "Oh, Thank you, Mister… uh…" She searched her mind, but she could not find the name of the man.

Amy walked to her, "His name is Shadow. He's nice." She watched the male and winked.

The young girl smiled wider, "Oh… Mister Shadow! Cheese, he kind of looks like a blue doggie."

Shadow felt extremely uncomfortable with the two females, but he nodded and promised to bring the 'doggie' back to them at all cost. His true reason was to find the Chaos Emerald, and if he had time, go back and bring the damn thing to them.

But while Shadow was finding the fifth emerald, Black Doom watches carefully to his every move inside the core of the Black Comet. He impatiently tapped his large black claws a top the arm of the chair he was sitting on, "Where are those fools with that human. Shadow is taking FAR too long with this."

Just at that very moment, two of the black creatures drag the blue haired boy into the throne room. They place him down, in front of their master and bow their head, respectively. With no ability to speak, they simply stood there and awaited for their leader to speak.

Pleased at what he was seeing, Black Doom rose from his seat and made his way in front of the captured boy (hovering a bit from the ground). "Very good. Very, very good, my minions. You shall be greatly rewarded." He let out a few evil laughs before speaking again, "Now, leave me and this human." The last word stained bitterly in his mouth (if he had one), watching as the two aliens retreated from his sight.

Sonic's eyes slowly began to flutter open, revealing his two emerald green eyes. He rubbed at his head and made his way into a sitting position, "Where… am I?" He said mainly to himself, looking around the dark throne room. It was HUGE, but it lacked light in it at all. It was mostly colored black and if any some red.

"You are miles away from your precious home, human. Inside the comet that just so happens to be resting on the atmosphere of Earth." The leader said coldly, but happened to have a few snickers roll off his tongue (Again, if he had one).

The boy let out a startled gasped as he saw the twenty foot tall black leader standing before him. He crawled backwards a little. This had to be the Black Doom GUN had warned him about. The boy got to his feet and stood in a fighting stance, he smile appeared on his face, "So, you're the famous Black Doom. Sorry, but I can't let you destroy my planet, Earth!"

The large black leader just laughed, "Do you really think you can beat ME? You're wasting your time fighting me. You'll just loose. If you do as I say, you will live." His form levitated a little higher, making him seem twice as tall as he had been before, not that he needed to.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you obviously don't know me. I'm not the kind of guy who backs down. It doesn't matter who you are and how strong you are, what your doing is wrong." Two gloved hands clutched together into fists. The boy jumped high and swung a punch, but missed as he flew right through the leader's body. Sonic landed with a tumble, watching Doom's faded body turn back into a solid form.

"You see? You can't possibly beat me, you fool." A few hummed chuckles echoed passed the fallen boy, as the black master grew closer to Sonic, "You are the one who will follow me."

Sonic got to his feet quickly, radiating a smirk from his face, "There's no way I would EVER follow you." He pointed towards Doom with pure courage, feeling the exact opposite inside. A part of him wanted someone else to be protecting him now. 'Someone like…' His mind skipped through his friends, not thinking of one that could be as strong as he was. 'Someone like…' Not even his enemies could possible compare to THIS. 'Someone like…' Then, he found someone in his mind that he found comfort, 'Shadow.' His cheeks burned with embarrassment, not believing he had just thought that. He was the hero here, he would save his home. Only him, alone.

"You say that like you have a choice, human." Doom's three yellow eyes lit up with amusement, "You've been injected with the Black Arms' blood. By now, it has coursed through your veins, infecting every blood cell you own." His thick claw pointed to Sonic's left arm, "You see that mark. You are one of us. I have the ability to control you!"

The blue haired boy looked down at his forearm, seeing a black mark. It looked more along the lines of a swirl with six spikes going every which way. He was stuck. Had he lost? "No!" He tried to take a step back, but he noticed his body was frozen where he stood. The only thing he could move was his eyes. He watched Black Doom.

"Trying is futile, human." The large claw was balled into a fist, as he held it out, away from his body. He could control the boy's every movement with the slightest hand signals, or none at all if he preferred, "Now, let's give Shadow a little visit, shall we?"

The boy was scared to death when he heard those words. Was he going to have to go up against Shadow without free will? He did not want to see his friend get hurt, especially if he, himself, was going to do the damages.

He suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his arm. The mark felt like it was eating away at his flesh. Struggling from his suffering, the only thing he could move were a few facial features and his eyes shut. His long messy hair turned a darker blue color and as he opened his eyelid again, the color was not green, but red.

The Dark master let out a menacing laughter, knowing he would win. His plans were working and soon he would be in control of the world! With a wave of his claw a bright light consumed both him and the suffering boy.

Back at the Cryptic Castle, Shadow looked dumbfounded at what was in front of him. He had found a way inside the core. Yes, and he survived the passages fine, but this was it. In this room, had to lay the fifth Chaos Emerald and that blue dog. The problem was, there were hundreds of blue marshmallow dog-like animals running around the room. Some even hanging on him and chilling on his head.

He walked across the Chao infested floor looking to see if any of them held a Chaos Emerald. If they did, he could just grab it and leave. Fuck looking for one dog that looked like all the others. He looked up, noticing one lone THING walking up some stairs. He followed after, seeing a bow around its neck and the word 'Cheese' printed on a gold tag with it.

He dusted the Chao that were on him and let them fall to the ground, where they would cry with little swirlies over their heads. He ran over to the 'doggie,' but it ran even faster, "Get back here you little bastard!" That only made the pet run even faster. "Great…" He said with sheer sarcasm and sped up only to find that the little blue thing squeezed under a brick wall. How? No one knows, not even him. He blinked with confusion and he kneeled down and analyzed the small creak in the wall. Either that thing had no bones, or it's a total freak.

He placed his hands upon the wall and got the right footage. He began pushing it as hard as he could, moving only a little bit at a time, "Come here, you little FUCKING retard!" He spoke out, getting irritated with the little pest. He soon fell forward as the wall began to move quickly by itself. He blinked landing face first in a ditch, with the dog in front of him. He grabbed the squishy, pillow thing with victory, "Got cha, you stupid…"

Before he could finish the animal threw up in his face. A lot. More than ever could be imagined by how small in size the thing was. But with the throw up green mess, a bright yellow emerald gleamed from it.

Shadow pet the Chao's head as he found what he had been looking for, "Good, little ass hole." He grabbed the gem and clicked it onto his chain, watching all five emerald sparkle. He sat back for a little, speaking more to himself, "Two more to go." He sighed in relief.

The little pet grew a little heart shape over his head as the hand stroked his head. Its big blue eyes closed giving the male a wide smile. But its eyes opened in a matter of minutes as an exclimation point appeared over it. "Chao! Chao! Chao!" It screeched, hiding in the lap of Shadow, "Chao! Chao! Chao!"

A look of boredom took over the man's face, looking down at the overly scared pet, "I'm not cleaning up you fucking dog shit." But after that was said a chill ran down his spine. Something was coming and, from what he sensed, it was not friendly. He stood up, and did not really notice the little Chao hanging out on his shoulder. He looked right, then left. Nothing seemed to be there.

Cold air filled the room and the torches dimmed out until the room was black. A strange spot light appeared on a familiar figure. Long bushy hair, covered eyes into shadows. It was hard to see, it was in fact Sonic!

All worries disappeared once he saw Sonic's form. The weight that was the Chao, lifted as he ran towards the boy. When he got close enough and he stopped, giving the other a smile of relief. "Sonic! What brings you here? Did you follow?" Those were just empty questions that spit out from his mouth, he was glad to see the boy again. His smile turned into a frown fast as he saw the other was not moving, "S-Sonic?"

The boy moved sluggishly towards the dark haired male, resting his head upon his chest, "Shadow…" The other's name passed his lips with such emptiness. His arms rose up and around the other's neck with such limp movements.

The pet was jumping up and down, sensing something wrong. It was trying to warn the male, but it was no use, Shadow seemed to be in his own little world.

His own little world, where Sonic was all that matter. Sonic and his feelings.

The tall male felt guilty, knowing something was wrong with the boy. It was probably his fault too. He wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his cheek upon the messy blue hair, "I have a feeling this is about what happened when I took your emerald. Look, I'm sorry for disappearing on you, but I don't want you hurt. If Black Doom ever found you…" His hold on the other tightened, as his arms crisscrossed on Sonic's back, "…I wouldn't know what I'd do. I'll make everything right again, you'll see. Give me some time." It was like the truth was spilling from his lips and he could not stop it. His tone grew quieter, "And that kiss… I didn't give it to you because I wanted to steal the Chaos Emerald. I care about you, Sonic."

In his hold, the boy's body felt so cold. Was he sick? He so small and limp, almost as if he was hollow.

Shadow planted a kiss upon the boy's head and nuzzled his face into the shaggy locks, "If you want to come with me this much you can." He breathed in Sonic's sent and continued with a smile on his face, "The truth is, I missed you too. I actually kick more ass when you're around, because of your safety… that is…"

All of these sentences were registering in Sonic's brain. He felt so hurt. He wanted Shadow to tell him this news, but not now. Not as he had no control over his body. He was practically bleeding inside, knowing he was going to attack him.

The boy's fingernails grew long and black as they neatly found their way carefully around the male's neck. The thumbs caressed lightly up and down, giving gentle scrapes along the way. They motioned up to the chin, then down again, gliding in a straight line. Up and over the Adams apple and down to the chest. Playfully toying with the collar bones afterwards.

The male's arms relaxed from their tightened grip and slid down to the waist again. He had a feeling he was being forgiven for his actions. His deep voice hummed out a small moan and spoke lazily, "That feels good…"

Sonic could not stand it. Black Doom was messing with them. Effecting Sonic more because he knew what was going on. He did not want this to happen. He tried to stop his hands, but his nerves were not cooperating with his mind. The only thing that he seemed to control was something he, himself, could not help.

Tears trickled down from his death-like cheeks. They slowly streamed down to his chin, having more gather there. They hung fragilely down before breaking off into a small ball of water. The cold liquid hit the bare chest of the tall male.

Shadow's eyes shot open, feeling the moist area on him. He pulled back a little, but did not release Sonic's grip, and placed his hand on the other's chin to examine his face. He was crying. It was the weirdest thing he had ever seen. The boy's face was neutral, not even a wince, but tears were falling like crazy.

His thumb whipped the stream away, but even more came. At this point, he knew something was wrong, "Sonic. Say something. Are you ok?" He waited for the other to say something, but he did not say a word. Shadow repeated, but it a sterner voice, "Sonic, Are you ok!?" He shook the boy's body a bit.

Sonic was shaken, but he did not blink or anything. He stood like an empty body. But those same crystal clear tears kept coming. But, out of nowhere, a grin appeared on his face as his brows curved downwards, "Shadow." His voice was deep, resembling Doom's. The grip around the other's throat tensed, nails digging into the unharmed flesh.

Shadow let out a cry of pain, feeling the stinging in his neck. He let go of the boy, trying to push him away now, "Sonic! Stop this!!" But the hold on his neck clasped more, making it harder for him to breath. The lack of air made it feel like his neck would explode. He grabbed the boy's hands and began pulling them away from him.

Sonic's hands did not want to give up. They threatened to kill Shadow. They wanted him dead, choking the life out of him. They wanted Shadow's soul! Blood! Blood of the hybrid!

The tall male yanked the claws away from him, but felt the slow cringing pain as small bits of his own skin being severed from his neck. It left a deep red gashes as streams of crimson oozed from them. He backed away rubbing at his wounds. He looked around, Black Doom had to be near, he was the only one who had the power to do this, "Black Doom! Come out, Now!" He shouted throughout the room.

Sonic stood up straight, smirking widely, "Stand still and die like real pray!" The dark demoniac voice spoke out from the boy's lips. He charged forwards and slashed at the tall male's face, then, kicking him to the ground. A thunder of laughter came from him, tightening his claws together, seeing the bones through his skin so perfectly.

Shadow lost his balance and collided with the ground. His eyelid was scraped hard, making it look almost identical to other, but this one much more fresh. Had Sonic gotten stronger, or was he always like this? No. Black Doom had to be possessing him. If that was the case, he had to stop Sonic. But how? He was not about to fight back. Whatever he planned to do, he was not going to do it laying on the ground.

He rose to his feet and watched Sonic carefully, "Sonic! Listen! Its me, Shadow!" He hoped to God something would get through to him. Sonic was not a killer. He could see a hero in him. If anyone should be acting like this, it should be Shadow.

He realized how much he changed because of this boy. This one human. He use to over look humans in need, but he had been helping some now. Some, but it was a start. He would have never done half the things he already did if it was not for this one human boy standing in front of him.

He felt as guilty as he ever could now. If he could have changed anything, he would have kept Sonic close. If he would have known this was going to happen, he would have held onto Sonic for dear life. Regret was pouring into his system and draining the will to fight back. He felt horrible. He wanted death. Maybe it would be better for him if it ended like this.

Scarlet eyes gazed up, only to watch the other's claws ram into his gut. He felt helpless, not wanting help. He felt so low… so ridiculously sad deep down. He let out a few gagged coughs as the nails ripped out of his body and he fell forwards. He used his palms to push up slightly and choked on his own maroon liquid, having it splatter to the floor.

Again, he got to his feet. Body weary, and eyes dazed. A ruby stream ran down his lower lip and eyes feeling a numbed pain of foolishness. "I'm sorry…" He forced out, "If you wish, finish me." He deserved this. All of the mistakes he has done. They harmed this human in many ways. But now, he can not even look into those emerald green eyes of his for relief. They faded into evil, the darkness that has consumed him. The same darkness that has consumed himself.

Sonic could not believe what his mind was transmitting. Just watching the male give into death so easily was practically killing him inside. He could not stand the large wound in the middle of the other's body. It sickened him knowing HE was the one who did it. Muffled sobs came from his mouth as his tears flowed even more quickly, "Sh-Shadow…" His voice was his normal high pitched, but his evil face stayed the same. His steps towards the male slowed slightly, but his destination did not change, "Sh-Shadow…" He stopped in mid-step and fell to his knees. He broke down crying his eyes out. His hair hunched over, hiding his face. He shouted, "No more Black Doom!! St-stop it! I can't take it anymore! Kill me… instea…d…" The rest were meaningless words spit out with no meaning, but more emotion as the first. His heart felt like it was being ripped in two pieces, stabbed numerous time, and chopped up into little itty bitty atoms of nothingness.

He suddenly went quiet again. He stood up straight, giving off the same smirk as before, "I'll gladly finish you off!" Running forward, he tackled the male to the ground. He pinned him to the hard ground below them and sat on the other's arms (Not that Shadow was struggling). He curled his hands into fists and took one punch after another at the male's face.

His beautiful, fragile face. Each jab, getting hit by his knuckles. Bruising and bruising, turning into blood. Bruises turned into wounds and wounds turned into pools. Crimson liquid and black marks stained his face. The face that has given up on life because of the one attacking him.

Sonic was watching, watching as his body did the rest. He felt like he was sitting in the back row of his mind, watching this horrible movie. The one you cringe with every gory moment, but with this he could not shut his eyes, he could not leave. His only option was to sit there, hoping for it to stop, begging, pleading!

One last blow sent the male into unconsciousness. A comma that he might not come out of. In a lost world of his own mind, maybe stuck in there for a good time before awakening. Watching the nothingness dark screen of his lids until his brain lives once again.

With that one attack, Sonic's body movements were returned to him. The only thing he could to is gasp at what he had created. The person he was sitting on, "No…" He leaned down and cradled the male's head close to his chest and rested his faced in the spiky mess of hair. He cried, not knowing what to do. He could hardly gasp for air. He desperately kissed at the top of the male's head, wanting him to wake up. He wanted this to be a dream, "I didn't…" His lips pressed against the other's hair once, "I… I'm…" Twice, "Shadow…" Three times. He whispered so only he could hear it, "I didn't want it to end this way…"

The spotlight on Sonic disappeared and both fell into the depths of darkness. Nothing but the boy's sobs were heard throughout the now empty room. Sorrow and regret stained both lives just as did the blood on the boy's hands. What he did, he can not take back. His hands will forever burn with the tainted blood of Shadow's life. With an endless amount of 'sorry' can not help after one is gone.

"Sayonara Shadow…" 


	7. Chapter 7

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A Public Service Announcement:

"On this day, November 19 2005, we have police reports that the 'Ultimate Life Form,' Shadow, was captured dead. His body has been sent to GUN headquarters to investigate this strange human. Some still argue that he may not be, in fact, a human being. GUN armies are not answering any questions just yet, but will keep us updated if they find out any information.

"Other reports say Shadow, killer of millions of innocent bystanders, is actually a hero. He was seen at some of the Black Arms attacks helping GUN forces, both in downtown Westopolis and Death Ruins.

"Commander of Alpha team, Knuckles, had this to say:

"'Shadow is a difficult person to trust, but all in all, he's a good guy. Mainly misunderstood. He helped my troops get through the desert alive, and that's all the proof I need. He's an excellent fighter and uses weaponry very well. I would hope one day he could join GUN and put his abilities to good use, but…'

"An innocent bystander, Amy Rose, had this to say:

"'Shadow was amazing. He might have look 'evil' on the outside, but he had a heart of gold, I know it. He saved me; my friend, Cream; and her pet's life. Anyone who saves a small defenseless creature is iso/i not evil! Plus, He's kind of cute.'

"This argument may never end, but some people are taking his death very hard. Breaking out riots on GUN property so this 'hero' can be buried in peaceful spot, away from labs. Shadow, the most powerful being known to man: black hearted evil, or a brave hearted hero?"

Two delicate hands folded the newspaper back to its original state and placed it on the wooden table, where one hand laced a finger around the sturdy handle of a coffee mug, rising it to a pair of rosy red lips. They took in the dark brown liquid as the cup was set down on the table again. "Shadow? Dead? I don't believe that for a moment." The feminine figure stood up from her seat, (Which was wood, matching the table) taking off the towel that was so neatly kept in her short white (Recently showered) hair. She draped the cloth on the arm of the chair and began to comb the wet locks with her fingers carefully, "He's way too stubborn to just drop dead like that." She let a weak sign pass those rosy lips and continued, "Well, I guess its up to me to get him out of there. If GUN finds out what he really is, they'll shoot him on sight." She started out the door, "Not that they could."

The dark cold of outer space, the Black Comet still soared close to the atmosphere of Earth. It was far from passing over, but 'The day of Reckoning' was drawing nearer, and there was little anyone could do. The only two people that could actually stop it was Sonic or Shadow . There was two problems with that. Sonic is being controlled by the Black Arm's leader and Shadow is dead.

Inside, in the core of this large rock, the throne room stood. With the looks of it, Sonic was not too happy.

"Black Doom!" Wounds and bruises showed he had been fighting for sometime. Pumping his legs as fast as he could, he jumped high, just to reach the height of the leader and sent a kick which tragically failed by a sudden shock of a barrier around his foe. He fell back, forcing his back hard on the frigid ground below. He inhaled and exhaled with huge gulps of air, just laying there as if he had no more fight in him.

He was not use to this. He never lost, and he defiantly never killed someone. Especially the one person he loved. Could this really be the end for him? Could this be the end for the world? Sonic failed for the very first time.

A few shaky sobs escaped him, trying to keep back tears. Pounding a fist to the mutated dark ground under him and whispered to himself, "Damn.." He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing if he opened them, he would start bawling right then and there. He felt weak, defenseless, and so crush. He clutched his fists, the same ones that killed Shadow. "Oh God…" He rolled to his side and hid his face with his palms as clear liquid began to flee from his eyes and down his cheeks.

Black Doom just stood in the same place he had been through Sonic's temper tantrum. He looked very pleased as he noticed the boy's actions had deceased. It took a lot to tire the stupid human out. He took this time to speak before the boy's reckless behavior started again, "Fool. Can't you see? You can not defeat ME!"

"Shut up!" The blue haired boy sat up quickly, still panting, but he held a glare to the Black Arms leader. He did not want to hear his voice. He did not want to be a part of this anymore. He was even starting to think he should have never acted as brave as he did. He wanted to go home. He wanted everything to be good. On Earth, with his friends, and Shadow living and breathing. That reality would never come true. He would be stuck as a slave and never lay eyes on Shadow again.

"Listen weakling," the dark voice thundered out through the room. The boy's arrogance was getting to him, but he soon calmed, "If you want, I can rid you of these pathetic human feelings."

The boy looked up at the tall black alien in disbelief, but frowned and watched the floor, "Haven't I suffered enough? What are you waiting for?" A forced smile appeared on his face, "Just kill me now." He did not want to see the torture of his planet and he did not want to be apart of the Black Arms. Plus, if he were to die, maybe he would see Shadow in a different life.

"Surrender your soul to me, human. At least then, you won't see your planet fall to their knees and being eliminated under my rule." His bright yellow eyes glared down at the human, knowing the other had no other choice but to surrender to him. He had thought about killing him, (Yes, indeed) but weather he liked it or not, he knew he needed the human boy to finish the mission of collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds, since his other apprentices had died. The blue haired being was not as strong as Shadow, he admitted, but he would serve him some use since he needed only two more. He would simply kill the pest afterwards.

Sonic made it to his hands and knees wondering for a moment. This was the end of the line for him. He had no chance in the world. He could not beat Black Doom. "Alright. I give you my soul, on one condition." He could not believe he was actually making a deal with a dark leader, "I don't want to know what's going on and I want you to kill me after its all over…" He hid his face in the shadows his hair made.

If the alien leader could, he would give off a wicked grin, as his arms came to a relaxed comfort to his sides. Words followed his deep dark chuckle, "Don't worry, that wish shall be fulfilled."

Prison Island. The female jumped down from what must have been a blind spot in GUN's security. She was breaking into her own team's base just to save Shadow, which is kind of stupid. The team already does not trust her because she was a former thief and also sided with Eggman. If it was not for Knuckles she would not even have this job. That, and she finishes her missions in record time.

Running swiftly down the hallways, she appeared to be in an all black suit, she had from the days she use to steal for profit. So, if anyone did spot her, they would not know it was her. Black high-heels beat at the metal ground below her seeing a weird eerie green glow at the end of the hallway, "Found it." She whispered to herself, placing her body to the wall, when close enough to the entrance. Her head peeked through the other side.

A bored soldier was seen in the room on a little fold out chair, reading what looked like Anime porn. He flipped the page and let out a sigh, looking up at the large tube Shadow was in.

He was not moving and wires were jabbed into his skin in various places, including his head. He floated in clear green liquid. No scars or wounds were visible on him, but he did not look very lively either.

The soldier looked back down at what he was reading (or rather, looking) and mumbled, "I make one mistake and I have to watch this dead guy." He sighed once again, flipping to the next page. A sharp pain was felt on the back of his neck, as he fell over to the steel ground unconscious.

Rouge did a flip over the fallen man and walked up to the container casually, "Another fine mess you've gotten yourself into this time, Shadow." She snickered and went to the controls, hacking the system. She typed in the five letter password and watched as the green liquid began to drain.

The glass door opened as the male's body fell limp out of the chamber, the wires ripping from his flesh. He made a very ungraceful landing, face-first on the ground. Black hair hung wet and messily on his head. He looked as he did before, but the only thing that was missing was his trench coat (the nerve!).

The girl slid her black mask off and kneeled down to Shadow. She motioned his body into a half sitting position and spoke to him, "Shadow?" No response was what was returned to her. She shook him a bit and tried again, "Shadow, honey. Wake up." She just sat there, wondering what to do now.

"A cig." A whisper under the girl was heard.

"Huh?" Her gaze went down towards the limp body under her, "Shadow, you're alive." She smiled a bit, knowing he was alright. Well, at least alive.

His voice became louder, "I said, I want a fucking cigarette." His eyes opened a bit, starting to sit up on his own, "In my pocket." He pointed towards the long black coat draped on the fold out chain, where the guard use to be sitting.

Rouge stood up and walked over to the chair, "You'll never change." Taking the coat with both hands, she looked down at it, then back to him, "I worry about you sometimes. I really think you should give up this whole 'finding you past' thing." She threw the jacket to him and sat on the chair with her legs crossed, resting atop the passed out man, "Shouldn't you settle down with a nice girl and live a normal life? This is, what? You fifth near death experience?" She leaned back a bit, watching the other light up the stick with great boredom.

Taking a hit, he glanced at the white haired girl, "You're only saying that because I turned you down a couple years ago, "He smirked slightly, "Before Knuckles asked you to be your wife." It soon faded on other issues in his mind.

His statement obviously had an effect on Rouge. She glared down at him and opened her mouth a bit to say something, but closed it to see something was bothering him. Of course there was, he almost died. This happened so often, she had become immune to seeing his 'death' and forgot. "You ok, Hun? Do you remember what happened?" He lost his memory a lot, she was just checking.

"I'm fine." He said sternly, standing up to prove his point, "And I do remember what happened." He found a wall he could lean on, looking around a bit. Just one guard watching the 'Ultimate Life Form'? Odd. He shrugged it off and sighed under his breath, giving a gloomy tone of voice, "Way too well."

She looked at him, then away, "You're not going to tell me, are you?" She folded her arms across her chest. She knew he was not going to answer that either, so why not bring up something that might spark his interest? "I heard you were collecting the Chaos Emeralds."

The News was quick about its information, that or he has been captured for quite some time. Not exactly caring how long he was there for, he shrugged his shoulders. His bored stare shot at her and met her teal pupils, "Yeah? So, what? You going to stop me?" He obviously knew the answer was no, since she risked everything to get him out.

The white haired woman got to her feet and glanced back at him, "No." She said simply, but continued, "Why do you want them?" She asked curiously, then looked around a bit, "And where are the ones you already have?"

"Hm?" A great shock went through his brain, almost automatically looking down to his chain. None. They were gone. Black Doom most likely took them, but that meant there were two more still out there. He swore then looked back at the woman, "I must leave." He spouted out and turned his back to her, looking for a proper exit.

Her eyes saddened, but a smile arose to show understanding. Shadow was always out doing his own thing, and she could never stop him. She had to admit, he was her first choice before Knuckles, but that did not mean she still did not love the red-headed soldier. "Here, I think you might need this more than me." She spoke up, just barely to him.

Shadow turned towards her, awaiting the gift that would be handed to him. Until then, he just gave her a confused looked, stained slightly with irritation, "What would that be?" His arms found themselves folded across his chest, impatient with her actions. He was in a hurry to get out of there and he was not going to get out of there any quicker with her stalling. Or so he thought.

Her delicate finger traced the button of a pocket that had been connected to her belt. It unlatched, having the room shine with a brilliant purple light. Revealing a good sized gem from it, she placed it in her palm close to the dark haired male, "I've been keeping this for sometime. I never did trust the military with the powers of Chaos. I know you'll use it wisely." Her smile softened a bit, not looking away from the other's face for a second.

Shadow watched the violet emerald in disbelief. That was his ticket of escaping. Rouge was way too generous for her own good (To Shadow, that is). He felt as if he did not deserve it. The more people he seemed to run into, the kinder they were. But Rouge, she was a friend. A partner. He has known her for years and understood she had developed feelings for him awhile back. The thing was, he could never return them. He could not feel the same. And that difference separated them.

He carefully took the jewel from her hands and looked down at her with gratitude, "Thank-you, Rouge." He nodded once, before planting a kiss upon her cheek, "I mean it." He backed away slowly, then turned to run at the door's exit, only to dissolve into the nothingness of the dark room. His presence was gone, but his appreciation stayed.

Pulling the black mask over her female features, she blushed lightly, looking back to the spot where the male had disappeared to, as if he were still there. She let go of a small smile and started with a sprint, only to stop and looked at the direction again, "You're welcome." She said, in a small, caring tone of voice before running towards another, sneakier exit to the room.

Now, the room was left abandoned, with the exception of the lone guard who was knocked out, resting his head upon his porno. (The sick little bastard). Was there a reason why the room was not guarded much better? Had somebody predicted Rouge would come to Shadow's rescue so he could be free? The navy uniform had the word 'alpha' printed on the sleeve of the soldier's shirt. Wasn't that the name of Commander Knuckles' team?

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	8. Chapter 8

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Mid-morning. It was cool out, but not to the point where you shiver. Dew drops glazed the green blades coming from the tan ground. A mist of colors danced upon the sky as the sun grew higher and higher, more visible, against the horizon.

The outskirts of town had beautiful grass that carpeted the dirty floor. A couple trees spotted here and there, nothing too dramatic like the woods, but it was simple. Still seeing the tall buildings not to far from sight. It calmed worries and showed that there was an actually peaceful spot in the crowded town. This small area could be easily over looked, being the reason not many people visited it.

Sleep did all but become easy for Shadow, not when he had something to do. Someone being in trouble. That someone, Sonic. Up all night, he had been trying to think of a way to get to him, but where would he be? That answer had Black Doom written all over it.

Looking up, seeing the commit just slightly. There was no way he could get there with only one emerald. Even if he did find the last one, it still would not be enough power. He was running short of ideas and he needed someway to get close enough to use Chaos Control, but how.

Footsteps were heard , grazing upon the grass' surface. Small, wet steps closer to the male. They stopped a couple feet away as a young boy's voice filled the soothing atmosphere, "Shadow, Sonic's up there."

Shadow's attention stood on the boy, but he continued to look up, knowing exactly where, if he was, pointing to. His lips moved evenly with his short sentence, "I know." Guilt poured over him. Saying it aloud was a lot harder to grasp than saying it over and over in his head.

The boy moved in closer, but he was still a fair distance away, "Knuckles told me about you," His head hung shamefully down, "I'm sorry I ran away from you." His blue eyes watched the back of Shadow's head now, "You truly are a hero like Sonic, huh?"

That last sentence absorbed into his mind. He was not like Sonic. Nothing was the same between them. "No." He gave the small blonde boy, "I'm no hero."

Tails rubbed at his arm and looked down a bit, as if he were examining the ground. His head, then, lifted and walked next to Shadow. His expression hardened, "Hero or not, you're the only one who has the strength to save Sonic. He's my brother and I'm willing to risk anything bring him back. I can't do this alone." Despite his brave look, he was practically shivering inside. I mean, here he is, standing a couple inches from a man known for killing ten soldiers in less than a second.

This mere human child has what it takes to get to the commit? Looks can be deceiving. Then again, if he claims to be the brother of Sonic anything was possible. He glance met the young boy, "I'm listening."

Tails nodded, knowing when he was needed to continue his information, "I noticed you had a Chaos Emerald. I could attach it to my S.S. Tornado, giving it enough power to get to a Space colony named ARK. There, another Chaos Emerald is being held. If my plane gets that far, I can easily hook it up to the colony and we'll go search for it. We need that emerald because the Tornado won't get us to the Black Commit in one trip with only one Chaos Emerald. We could wait for the emerald to recharge, but to my calculations, that could take," Counting down his fingers, he squinted one eye to think, "Maybe a day and a half, maybe longer."

The kid sure did talk a lot about nonsense. He could have spared him the details, but he had what was coming to him. He watched the sky, then looked back at the boy, "Alright. You do what we need to get there, and I'll handle it from there."

A bright smile appeared on his face and started off with a run towards the city, "Come on! Its at my workshop!" He shouted towards the male.

Shadow followed after him, looking towards the city with deep thought, "ARK…" That sounded familiar to him somehow. Where did he heard it? He would soon find out after he got up there. Maybe he would find out the truth about his past. He could not help but feel there was a connection with that place and that one blonde haired angel from his dreams. Or should we say, nightmares.

Darkness. It seems like the only light are from the big round ball under the windowsill. Green and blue scattered throughout. Beautiful, a magnificent giant. A world with many secrets and discoveries. If only one where to go to such a place. Somewhere perfect.

Crimson eyes looked down upon this sight, hoping one day to be down there. Live a normal life with his family. His creator, father, Professor Gerald Robotnik and his beloved sister, Maria Robotnik. The history of his true mother was unknown, but it bothered him little. What he had was not a lot, but he was happy, even if he was much closer to his sister than anyone else on the space colony.

"Shadow. Shadow? Shadow!"

Awoken from a daydream he was having about what the Professor had said, he looked over to the blonde girl next to him. He blinked a few times out of confusion before speaking, "Yes?"

"You seem a little out of it today, Shadow." Concern filled her light and shy tainted voice, "Something the matter?"

Of course there was, if their weren't, there conversation would be a lot natural. He kept zoning out though. He could tell she was getting a little impatient with it, but he was not doing it at all to be rude, or even to ignore her. But where to start? "Well," He began, "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live down on Earth?"

She smiled innocently, closing her sky blue eyes for a moment, "I believe it will be amazing. Life all around. I read in books that there's plants and flowers too. And many different people to meet. Even people our ages."

His head was still stuck at the scene of plants and flowers. Many different creatures around, "And butterflies?" He had a fancy for the mysterious insect with diverse colors of wings. An ugly green worm could turn into something as delicate and graceful as that.

The blonde girl nodded her head as her smile widened, "Yes. Of course."

Shadow shook his head, "…But the people of Earth." He started not wanting to finish. The pained expression on his face showed his mind already told the story.

Maria's smile soon faded at the sight of her brother, "What about them?" She watched him, wondering what could possible be giving him so much mental suffering.

"You'll fit in fine." He weak smile appeared on his face, "but me. I'm…" He took a long pause before finishing, "Different."

Her brows curved down and looked away, trying to think of a way to bring up his spirit. He was indeed different from everyone.

He once got pissed off at one of the workers aboard the colony and nearly killed them. Unable to control his anger, he gets an unlimited amount of energy and strength. It was not necessarily a bad thing, he had to simply learn how to control it.

With one last thought, her cheerful gaze clung back to him, "Everyone is different. Its not a bad thing, honest."

"Easy for you to say," He did not mean for his sentence to come out so bitterly, but it was too late to change it, so he finished, "you're not a monster."

Getting the hint that 'sweet talk' was over, she watched the window in front of her, "Look, I know its going to be very difficult to fit in, but you'll get use to it."

He 'Tsk'ed with disappointment, knowing that was not the best answer given to him, "Yeah. Get use to them calling me a freak." Walking down the empty hall, he just wanted to be alone for awhile and he was good at walking away when problems got too difficult for him. It was not the best way to deal with things, but it was the only one he was good at.

Maria knew her brother all too well. It was best to leave him alone when he was on his breaking point. She was left, starring down at the planet below her. Maybe it was too early to go live on earth. This was a big change for everyone, more so for Shadow. She knew he was not her real blood line brother, but she treated him the same.

She walked with a quick pace down the hall. Maybe they could delay moving down to Earth for a little while, just until Shadow could get use to the idea, "Grandpa!" She shouted, getting closer to one of the rooms, "Grandpa!" She repeated, peaking into one of the room. "Grand…pa…?" She was taken back, her back hitting the wall with the sight she was seeing.

The Professor was handcuffed, laying on the ground as two GUN soldiers pointed rifles at his head. What was their purpose of being there, and why were they threatening the Professor?

The old scientist looked up at the girl and spoke out without hesitation, "Quickly, Maria! Get Shadow out of here! They're trying to kill him!"

She ran from the room as fast as possible. There were not enough words to express how scared she was, but there was one thing on her mind. Getting her brother out of here alive. "Shadow!" She shouted as fear boiled over on his name, she repeated, "Shadow!" Turning the corner, he was nowhere to be found, "Shado-!" She was cut off from a slight change in gravity, tripping over the tiled floor. She fell to the ground with great force, only to meet face first with an army boot.

The man held a rifle to the girl's head. The mission he was given, to kill anyone who gets in the way. If she were to warn Shadow, their mission would become a complete failure.

Maria looked up, frightened at the man's face. No trace of emotion could be seen on it. His eyes covered with heavy tinted goggles, watching her own reflection through it. She lay there, squeezing her eyes tight, waiting for death to come to her.

"I suggest you stand down." Shadow's figure arose from the darkness of the corridor. Ruby eyes filled with hate and murder, but facial features calm as ever. He creaked each knuckle one by one as he drew nearer to the soldier.

The man backed off a bit, only to point his weapon at the male instead. One hand grabbing a walky talky as he opened his mouth to speak into it.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Almost vanishing into the darkness, his body sung around the soldier. Both hands placed carefully on the GUN member's face, only to wedge it violently around, giving off a loud 'creak' as he did so. He let go and watched the body fall limp to the ground.

Feeling a tug at his wrist, he saw his blonde sister trying to change his direction. He watched the fear in her eyes, then looked down at the dead man. Deciding it was best to keep moving, he let the girl lead the way.

Running as fast as she could, she held onto her brother for dear life as they made their way down the hall and into a room. She chose the nearest escape pod and motioned for him to go inside, "I'll get it ready, stay."

He walked inside the pod and watched her, "What about you? You're coming with, right?" He was not about to leave without her. It was way too dangerous for her to stay here.

The blonde girl closed the glass door and smiled at him, "Don't worry, Shadow. I'll take the next one." Tears began to slid down her cheeks, then turned to the computer.

Shadow looked around with a bit of confusion. There were not anymore escape pods left in the room. His stomach jumped, knowing what she was doing. He banged at the glass door, "Maria! No, don't do this!" The girl seemed to be ignoring his pleads, "Listen to me! Get in here now! Maria!!"

The burst open with a good amount of soldiers. Their guns loaded and aimed at the defenseless blonde girl. Their fire opened and bullets scattered the room.

"MARIA!!!"

Shadow's head jolted up as those memories consumed his head at the moment as he followed the blonde boy deep inside the ARK. He was remembering a lot, but there was one thing that still puzzled him. This 'Maria,' what was her last sentence. Her last words. Everything else came out so clear, it was the only thing that was getting to him.

His thoughts were interrupted by quakes under his feet. Something was happening to the ARK. Looking out a small round window, he saw debris from the colony they were on. Was it falling apart? Looking at the small boy, he spoke out, "Find the emerald! I'll find out what's happening out there!"

Tails nodded, but before he could say much, Shadow was gone from his sight. He quickened his pace down the dark hallways, in search for the lost emerald. "I must be brave," He whispered to himself, "I must save Sonic!"

Black boots met their footage with a metal clank. The thing was, he was still falling with it. Jumping onto two higher pieces of flooring, he looked around for another. Why was this place being torn apart? Whatever it was, he bet it had something to do with Black Doom. Getting to higher ground, he stopped, looking ahead of him. Crimson eyes opened wide, looking a the being in front of him.

It was Sonic, and in his palm, rested the last Chaos emerald. A smirk crept across his face and turned his back to the male, running away. Then, jumping higher out of reach.

"Sonic." He said with more carefulness and shock as he tried to gain higher ground. He needed to get to him. The damn emerald did not even matter to him, he needed to get to the boy. He cursed Sonic's speed though. He could barely keep up with him, let alone try and capture him, "Sonic! Wait!" Stumbling over some wreckage, his fingertips barely missed the edge of the next platform. He struggled to get up it, but loosing sight of the boy.

Working his way up, he finally got to a sturdy ground. It seemed to be a hallway. He studied it as he turned the corner, seeing an exit. He walked towards it to see a room. He must have been on the lower levels of the ARK, because they were mostly laboratories. Jumping down to a lower portion of the room, he walked through it, eyes tracing each corner of it, "Sonic?" The only thing that returned to him was an echo. He advanced forward, just to be stopped by what looked like blue lights of energy coming at him. He quickly jumped back and watched the attack hit the ground, fading away like dying sparklers.

Not too long after, the blue haired boy landed a few feet from the male. A smirk still stained his face, but no life rested in his eyes. They were a dull green, almost grey. His voice was no longer his own, it was a complete replica of Doom's, "Haven't had enough, Shadow?"

He did not know what to do at this point. He thought about stopping and catching Sonic, but how would he go about doing that? Black Doom was controlling him, but where was he getting that power from? Could it be possible that Sonic can wield the power of the Chaos Emeralds? He stepped forward, "Stop this. Don't let Black Doom control you."

"I follow my leader," Holding up his arm with the Black Arms symbol on it, he showed it to the male, "Unlike you." Hands formed to fists as dark Chaos energy swirled around his arms, his smirk growing wider. Wide enough for two visible fangs to appear.

"You're…" He did not even need to say the rest. He lifted his hand up, and pushed the longer collar of his trench coat down, to feel the back of his neck. The same mark, that was on the boy's arm, was on his neck. Things were starting to make a little more sense. Meaning, Shadow was nothing more than a servant to Black Doom. One thing did not make sense. Why was he not being controlled by Doom? His brows lowered, watching the boy, "Why do you follow him? He sees you as nothing more than a pawn in his plan."

Standing there, he only became angry with him, "Silence!" Running forward, he swung hard at Shadow face, but hit nothing. The male's figure faded to nothing and the hit was sent to the steel wall. He felt his body being forced against the wall, from the person behind him.

That would be Shadow. He stopped the struggling being from being released from his grasp. He rested his chin to the boy's shoulder and continued, "He won't give you anything in return. After you give him what he wants, he won't care what happens to you."

Sonic tried to push off from the wall, but the other had a harder grip on him than he thought. Shadow's words were piercing his ears badly, knowing they were all true, "LIAR!!" His check rested on the steel wall, along with his body.

The male's face grew closer to the other's ear, whispering gently his next words, "I won't let that happen to you. Stay with me, Sonic. I'll give you everything and more. I'll care for you everyday of my life until I die, and even then, I will still."

"Leave me alone!!!" He managed to swing his body around, so his back faced the wall. One hand began to glow again. More angry than ever, his eyes felt hate and betrayal; his lifted fist shook with confusion and uncertainty; and his heart raced with hurt and love.

Shadow watched the fist in front of him with a neutral expression, "No. I won't. I don't want you to be alone," He shook his head, "This isn't you. You have to fight it."

"Stop it!!" Sonic's fist inched forward, only to be pulled back a little. Black Doom's orders rang at his ear drums like no other. Constantly repeating to kill Shadow. But his mind was arguing with it, telling him not to. His soul was gone, wasn't it? Why second thoughts? Why so much confusion? Unless… Doom lied.

i'He wants you to suffer. He's going to make you watch as he kills everyone!'/i Sonic's voice echoed through his mind.

"Lies!!" Throwing the punch at the males face, he fell to his knees wincing at an invisible pain. Not even paying much attention that the other fell far across the room. He breathed heavier. What should he do? This confusion was more over powering than anything he had ever encountered. It was so hard to listen to his own voice. It was almost impossible, but he could hear it. So clear it was disgusting. "Shut up!!" He yelled out loud to himself, "Shut up!!!" Gripping his head trying to get rid of it, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" Nothing was working. Two swarms of voices cycled in his mind and nothing made sense. Should he, or should he not kill Shadow? What could he possibly do?

--------------------------------------------- 


	9. Chapter 9

A loud clank was heard as the body was thrown across the steel covered room. It did not hurt as bad as thinking that he was getting through to the boy. His eyes met the ground and he began to pull his body up a little. He can only imagine how confused he is right now, but what could he do to stop that? He did not have a chance in Hell of stopping him. It was Sonic's decision. He was too deep into Black Doom's clutches it was sick. His eyes filled with anger. He did not want that! He wanted him back to normal!

Dull eyes watched Shadow with all out hate, but two arms swung around his own body, nails digging into his own skin, as if trying to stop himself. He shouted out in pain as the cringing feeling filled his arms. Long black nails were attached to fingers that were starting to stain black with it. He hugged tighter to his arms as he fell back, struggling under his own will, "Stop!!! Shut up!!!" His body flailed about, fighting the words in his head. He could not listen to both. His body was suffering with so much build up of energy, as his skin started to turn dark.

Shadow watched this. Something was wrong. This was not suppose to happen. Sonic was human, but it looked like he was transforming into something more. He was one of the Black Arms now. Crimson eyes shut, thinking how it was hopeless to try and save the boy, only to open back up with determination. He stood up and walked to the suffering boy. He once made Sonic stop from fighting him. Stop from be angry at him. Maybe he could possibly clear his mind again. Maybe he did have the power to do it.

Seeing the tall male inched forward, his body grew more stressed. It was harder to control himself from doing anything. Deep growls came from his mouth, having the urge to kill him, each step the other took. Another part of him cried out, "Stay back, Shadow!!" He did not want this. He could feel himself loosing grip of reality and soon lost. His skin was becoming darker and darker and his eyes began to glow yellow. He would not be able to take it if he killed Shadow for a second time. It would be more unbearable.

His heart in his chest began to pound harder than any other. Just watching Sonic suffer was tearing him apart enough, but what he was about to do. He even questioned himself. Up close was even more heart breaking. He closed his eyes and thought softly, i'Please, Maria, Let this work…'/i He stood above the boy, both feet only inches away from his waist. He lowered and took the blood stained hands into his and placed them to the ground over the boy's head. Closing his eyes, he inched his face closer to the boy's, hopelessness rushing over him. Did Black Doom have full control over Sonic? If so, there was nothing he could do. A single tear steamed down his cheek and fell upon the boy's.

Feeling a drop to his cheek, Sonic's body stopped fighting. Twitches every now and then, but they were not violent. Lids covered those dull eyes, only to open again, revealing large emerald ones. Did Shadow care that much? So much he would shed tears for him? The cause of millions of people's death. That weapon has the ability to care.

He noticed the boy's struggling had ceased, but for how long? He might not get another chance like this. He might not ever be this close to Sonic again. After this, it could be the end. End of his life. End of Sonic's. End of the world. End of life itself. After this, nothingness might wash in forever.

No more thoughts. If he was going to share something with the boy only one last time, this would be it. If not, regret would settle in forever. It was his fault he did not keep him close. His fault he did not keep a close eyes on him. His fault the boy now suffers.

Shadow could feel the coldness around the boy. He had no warmth, and was probably not cared for properly since the day he last saw him, which seemed like an eternity. He almost shivered at the boy's state. He did not dare open his eyes. He did not want to see the emptiness of his face. That face was not the boy who had no fear and smiled at any occasion. Guilt began to build up more. It was now, or never.

Slowly leaning closer, towards the boy's frosted face. He pulled away at first, but not far. He took in a deep breath before motioning down all the way and catching the other's lips with his. Those lips, feeling like ice cubes. Having the effect of years of fear and darkness, when in reality it was only a few days. Coldness rushed over his own body, as if it were contagious. Sonic's lips had no movement, nor warmth. It was like he was dead. Pulling back an inch or so, he whispered to the blue haired boy, "I'm sorry." Taking off his trench coat, he pecked the boy's lips one more time before kneeling down to him, wrapping him up in the black coat, and picking the boy up him his arms, "I'll save you… from this Hell."

Small beats of steps could be heard coming into the room. The little blonde boy appeared from a dark entrance, "Shadow!" He said in an aimless direction, until his eyes picked up the sight of the being he had been searching for. "Shadow! There you are!" Pointing at the beeping watch on his wrist, he continued, "According to my indicators, the emerald is in this room! We have to hurry the ARK is--" His words faded as his eyes registered who the other form was, wrapping in the black, leather blanket, "Sonic?!" Sprinting forward, he stopped and examined him, "Is he alright?! What happened?" His eyes met the ruby ones, but they never looked back.

Looking down at his foot, he noticed the small teal gem. i'That's right, Sonic had the emerald.'/i He watched the child, "Grab the emerald and let's go. We don't have much time." He began walking towards the entrance where Tails had came in, knowing it was the way back.

Tails quickly took hold of the jewel and followed close behind Shadow's steps. His eyes were glued to his brother. Blonde brows folded downwards and tears started to form, "Is he going to be alright, Shadow?" His voice almost creaked into sobs, but he held them down for now.

The male was silent. He did not know, himself. If he told the child he was alright, and he was not. He did not have the heart to lie. But if he told him there was a good chance he was not going to make it, that might crush him even more. He quickened his pace, as if that were an answer. For him, it was the only one he could give.

He watched the male's footing increase, which made him run in front of him and stop him in his tracks. His blue eyes striked down that crimson ones with a glare of hurt and worriment, "Is my brother going to be alright?" He repeated louder.

He thought about walking around the boy, just to avoid the topic, but thought better. He would only make one more person in the world hate him. Plus, he doubted that they were going to go anywhere unless he gave answer. He sighed and spoke out, "I'm not sure." He looked down at the blue haired boy, then to the ground, "The Black Arm's DNA has entered his blood stream. I'm not quite sure what effects it has on him. One thing I do know… Its that he's is being controlled by Black Doom, the leader. Right now, I believe his brain shut down from fighting Doom's orders. Its better if he's out." He closed his eyes, standing soundless for a moment, "When he wakes up, he might not be the Sonic you know."

Tails stood there, taking in the information. His eyes did not leave his sibling. After awhile, a light of hope sparked inside him. He smiled widely and looked up at Shadow, "But there's a chance he'll be normal when he wakes up, right?"

"Yes," It was very unlikely, but he felt better that the child could smile again. It was strange. The smaller someone is, the bigger their hopes are. But Shadow had only hope left at this point. Black Doom still had Sonic in his grasp, even if he was in his own arms. In either case, he had to find Doom and save Sonic from being controlled. With Doom dead, the boy would not have to listen to him any more and be free. To smile. This thought even made Shadow smile lightly.

Suddenly, pounding. It was not from the ARK falling apart. It was from his own head. A headache? Now? His memories were being triggered. Words were being spoken, but too faint to understand. That is, until he heard one sentence.

i"Shadow… Give the people of Earth a chance… to live and be happy…"/i

"Maria…" He whispered, his eyes snapped back from his glazed over look. He closed his eyes as that sentence filled his head. Repeating over and over.

Tails watched the male. "Shadow?" He got a closer look, but it just seemed like Shadow was just standing there with his eyes closed. Was he sleeping? He blinked a little confused. Sleeping standing up? Waving his hand in front of the male's face, he said his name again, "Shadow?"

A grin appeared on his face as his scarlet eyes opened, "I know what needs to be done." Placing the boy down on the ground, he watched the blonde child, "Watch after Sonic for me."

Tails watched his actions with great bewilderment, "Bu-but Shadow!? What are you planning on doing?!" He looked down at the emerald in his hand, "I still have to fly the tornado to the commit! I can't stay here! Plus, this space colony is breaking apart!"

Shadow gave a calm look to him as he took possession of the gem, "I won't need long. If not, get to higher grounds." He turned his back to them and began walking towards a window where the large black tinted rock stood easily in their view, "I'm going there alone. To stop Black Doom once and for all." His voice became softer, "…and save Sonic."

The blonde kid ran at the tall male, "No! Its too dangerous! You need help! Please, don't go on your own! You might die!" Tears stained his cheeks, trying to stop him. The other's body slowly fading into the environment each step he took. Until, jumping and tackling him, only to miss and seep through the male's form and tumble to the floor. He panted slightly, seeing that Shadow had, indeed, teleported from sight. Tails stood up and watched the dark planet slowly floating by. Wiping his tears away, he gave a brave look, followed by a quick solute, "Good luck, Shadow." 


	10. Chapter 10

Two black aliens stood, blocking what seemed to be another long hallway. So many exits, entrances, and dead ends. Black and darkness were covering ninety percent of the place, the other ten was from random glowing ooze and ponds shaded purple.

The two creatures walked aimlessly back and forth, not really have a brain of their own. One thing on their mind. Destroy any intruders. And that's what they, quiet frankly, failed to do.

Out of the darkness of the corridor, a blade cut through the two alien's necks, as quick and easy as butter. They both fell to the cold ground with green organic liquid forming around them. A clank was heard, as a samurai sword was dropped next to them.

Jumping from the blackness, Shadow landed in front of the dead beings, but spent no time looking back. There was only forward now, and the more time he wasted, the more danger Sonic was in. He wanted him alive, no matter what. Steps sped up, seeing more alien soldiers up ahead. In one quick motion, two red laser guns were reveal from his belt, where now two Chaos Emeralds hung, and aimed, shooting all in his path, leaving nothing but acid rain as he sprinted by.

The core of the commit. That's where he needed to be. That was where Black Doom was. That was where Sonic's freedom was.

Shooting another alien on sight, he kicked the creature off, what looked like a hover board. Looking forward, there was nothing but a pitch black pool of ooze in front of him. He did not hesitate though. Throwing the board into the liquid, and them his own two feet atop it. A slight humming sound came from it as he moved forward, where more would try to stop him, and they would loose just as easy.

i"RRRAAAAWWWWRRRR!!!!"/i

Slowly, looking behind him, he thought sharply, i"What the HELL was that?"/i There was not really much to see except the alien corpses floating to the mysteriously dark river. Eyes shifted each way. Really, ear drum bleeding roars do not come from just anywhere.

Under his feet, waves started to form, almost knocking him off balance. Taking another long look, he watch the water rise up… and up…. AND UP! Scary dark liquid does not just rise up over two stories high (That he know of, anyway).

As the black water drizzled down a large worm like creature came into view. No eyes, but one BIG mouth. It let out another thunderous roar, i"RRRRAAAWWWRRRR!!!"/i Charging for the tall, but not all tall as the monster, male.

Two words just hung off his lips, "Holy. Shit." They sounded rather bluntly, but it had a sarcastic tone of 'Are you kidding me right now?' to it. Being shocked from disbelief, he found that it was time to get the Hell out of there before he was going to be eaten alive. The hover board raced to the nearest shore, which was farther away than it looked.

As the monster dived under the water, a big black wave rose up, bringing Shadow up with it. Maybe he would get to the shore faster than he thought. As he road the wave, He managed to swerve a bit when he found that he was being shot at from the direction he was headed. Dodging the shots, he pulled the triggers of his own weapons. Each creature when down with a loud creak noise from hitting their skulls. A couple feet from land he jumped from the hover board and observed his kill. Considering they had the same form of weaponry, they had the same type of ammo.

Collecting the bullets, a rumbling noise came. The large worm creature revealed itself from the water under the board Shadow had been riding, taking the small transportation in its large mouth and swallowed it whole. It growled at the male, but turned back into the dark depths of the water.

Wide-eyes, Shadow blinked. That could have been him if he would have stood on it for two seconds longer. Shaking the shuttering feeling off, he openly commented to himself, "I'm out of here!" Continuing on ahead, it was more or less the same. Get shot at, shoot back, kill, and move ahead. Yes, it did get rather boring and irritating, but he was on his way there. He had not really noticed until now, but there were a lot of aliens part of the Black Arms. That is, unless Black Doom kept making more.

Getting closer? He had to. Corridors did not just seem to get fancier because it was just an ordinary room. Creepy statues were scattered along the walkway, but if they were not likely to come to life. Not when they were this close. There would be no purpose. He whispered, "But just incase." Raising his weapons, he shot all the statues head straight off their shoulders, only to fall like rocks, just as he suspected. "Hmph."

Entering a large throne room, he stopped. Looking down at the flooring. It caught his eye. The same mark that was on his neck, was carved into the ground below his very own feet. This definitely had to be the place, but looking over at the large dark-royal chair, no alien leader, "Black Doom! I'm here to settle this… ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Fingers clutched tightly at their triggers, looking cautiously to each side.

Deep chuckles were heard from behind the male. Appearing into plain sight, he spoke out to his 'soldier', "Ah. Shadow. So, you DID survive. And you brought me the last Chaos Emeralds too."

Shadow twisted his body around full force to face the leader, not to talk, but to shoot all he had at him. Noticing that the leader had disappeared and probably unharmed, he finally responded, "I would NEVER hand these over to you!"

Black Doom became visible once again, "You defy your creator? You are made from me. You do what I say. I control YOU!" His large claw pointed out in front of him, trying to make Shadow move against his own will, so he can get his greedy claws on the last emeralds.

Glancing up at the Black master's threats, but he did not budge. "Enough!" He walked forward, "No one tells me what to do. You have no control over me, Black Doom." His tone grew bitter and stepped up once more to prove his point.

"I see." He said with an evil interest, "You ARE stronger than Sonic. Join me, Shadow. We could accomplish so much. Don't you want to get revenge from the humans who took the only thing you had to live for?" His tone sounded pleased. If he could not manipulate his mind by force, he would persuade with words.

"Shut up!" Shadow's voice echoed from the walls as his ruby eyed glare pierced at the black creature in front of him, "I'm sick and tired of you meaningless words, Black Doom. This ends here and it ends NOW!"

Lingering above another familiar voice filled the room, "Yeah! Weather you like it or not, the game's over." Jumping down to the tall male's side was the blue haired boy, reflecting his usual grin from his face. Over his delicate shoulders held Shadow's long coat that was given to him for a blanket. He gave one glance at the one next to him, then watched his target again.

Shadow, more surprised than ever, would have never guessed Sonic would follow him. But how on Earth did he do it? And where was Tails? Figuring that it would be better to ask those questions later, his vision rested on Black Doom as well.

"Fine. I gave you life, and I can just as easily take it away." Clutching his thick claw into a 'fist,' his eyes started to glow a deep red. Sparks of a purple aura flicked off from his body. He had use for these two pests anymore. Shadow carried the last two emeralds and that was all that mattered.

"You ready, buddy?" Sonic watched the one next to him and gave a quick wink.

"Yeah," He smiled softly, but it turned into his usual frown, "Just don't get in my way." He sped up first and jumped up in rang of Black Doom, firing away as many shots as he could. The problem was, none of them seemed to hit.

"Fools! You can't hurt me! I'm the most powerful being in the Universe!" Doom's claw went right for Shadow, knowing it would not take long get rid of them both. And as long as none of them knew where is weak spot was… "GGAAHHH!"

While he was too busy bothering with the dark haired male, Sonic took this opportunity to find his weak point and hit it. He was no different from any other villain he faced before. He had slammed his foot right in the back of his head while having his back turned. Sonic was pushed back a bit from the kick, but quickly used his abilities to shift directions in the air to slam it at the same spot again, "And that's called a homing attack, Sonic style!"

"You little pest!" Turning to Sonic, he grabbed him with both 'hands' and began to squish his body, "You can not beat me, human! You're small and weak!" Grasping harder on the hero, he continued, "Have any last words?"

The boy made a couple gasping sounds of pain, but being crushed to death was not going to wipe that smirk off his face, "Heh! Actually, I do." His smile grew wider, showing his pearly whites, "Never turn back." It did not give anything away too quickly, but his point was to mess with the dark alien.

Doom gave the one who was captured a questioning look, "What?" This only made his anger grow. Was he toying with him… or was he? His eyes lit open, just realizing he had turned his back to Shadow.

The male had been powering up for awhile and now his body was glowing a bright crimson color. He knew the dark leader was dumb and way too into his 'power' to actually know he was in danger, but it would only tae that sentence and two seconds after it for an attack. His body practically hovered from the ground, as more energy built inside him, until it could not any longer, "CHAOS BLAST!" An explosion came from him, destroying much around him, but Doom was far from death. He knew that much.

Appearing behind him, the boy smack Shadow across the back, "You want to warn me when you bring that out again?! I expected you to hit him, but--" His whining was stopped by the warm hand from the other covering his mouth hole. His cheeks flushed a little, but he crossed his arms in a pout.

Shadow spoke quietly, "Why do you think I gave you one of the Chaos emeralds?" Uncovering the other's mouth and watched the damage that the enemy had taken. Surprising, it was a lot more than he imagined, "Not as tough as you say, are you, Black Doom?" Folding his arms across his bare chest, his eyes watched the form for any movement. He could still sense life on him, so he could not been that hurt.

"You think you have won? The Black Arms WILL rise and take over that pathetic planet. But why, Shadow? Why do you side with these Humans? They gave you nothing but pain!" A fallen leader, on the ground, gasping for air, extreme hate of the form in front of him. His plans were not suppose to go like this. Shadow was suppose to follow him without the liberty of choice.

"Why? Maria… The professor…" His eyes intertwined with the boy's, "Sonic… They are all humans too. I can not hate the very race that loved me and brought me in with open arms. If you were to feel the same, you would not have dump me on that planet to ROT!" He walked over to Sonic and placed his arms around him.

Lights began to shine from every direction of the room. The gems floated on their own will as they cycled around the two beings. All seven Chaos Emeralds. They were all together again. Just as Sonic and Shadow were together again.

Shadow's eyes never left Doom's, "These humans have given me a purpose, a chance, and happiness. You have given me nothing, but life. I will follow you no longer. I will live, I will love, and I will die on Earth. I will live amongst the humans in peace and give them a chance to be happy. This is who I am." 


End file.
